HUMANIST

On the Edge of a Lost and Lonely World, the second album from Rob Marshall’s Humanist project, showcases the vocal talents of Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode), Isobel Campbel (Belle & Sebastian), Carl Hancock Rux (David Holmes) and James Allan (Glasvegas), among others. This choice cast navigate a masterful expansion of the Humanist sound-world, broadening and deepening the terrain first explored on 2020’s much lauded debut album, further consolidating the emergence of Rob Marshall (guitarist of Exit Calm and co-writer of Mark Lanegan’s celebrated “Gargoyle” and “Sombeody’s Knocking” albums) as a songwriter, composer and producer with a singular musical vision.

The album is a reminder of how emotionally affecting guitar-driven music can be at its best: soaring, turbulent, soul searching, and above all sincere; you can hear that Rob’s been through it all, got the scars to prove it, and has come through wiser, more experienced and resilient. An artist of the old romantic school, it’s obvious that Rob means it. On this second Humanist album, it feels like the stakes are high: here’s one man’s soul, painstakingly laid bare, put out on the chopping block in front you.