Songs & Playlists
Discography
Explore more of my indie-pop, Americana, and rock releases:
Hits & misses
The (only) good part about never having any Billboard hits is you get to pick whatever songs you damn well please for your "Greatest Hits" collection — including a few brand new singles!
This playlist, available exclusively on Spotify, highlights favorite songs from the albums I've released as Chris Robley, Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights, and THE SORT OFs.
And because it's a playlist — and not an album — I can change it whenever I want. Follow the playlist so you won't miss any new songs.
The Great Make Believer
“At the top of his game with his new work.” - KCRW
"Given its spiralling emotions, The Great Make Believer makes for an enticing listen, and, its title disclaimer aside, suggests that Robley is indeed the very real deal." - No Depression
Recorded live over a long weekend at a house which sits beside the Lewis & Clark Salt Works on the Oregon coast, these ten songs are my most emotionally vulnerable to date.
The album was co-produced and engineered by Rob Stroup, and some of my dear friends brought their psychedelic-country chops to my little folk pop fictions and confessions.
Ghosts' Menagerie
“Robley pulls you into his tortured world view with a poetic sensibility that gives his music a depth and wisdom many young songwriters lack.” - All Music Guide
Produced with Adam Selzer (M Ward, The Decemberists, Minus 5) and Jeff Stuart Saltzman (Typhoon, Stephen Malkmus, Menomena), Ghosts' Menagerie is a band-oriented album that combines catchy noir pop, psych-folk, and a sparer production style with tales of heartbreak and domestic decline. It's cheery stuff. No really, some of it sounds quite cheery. Try some!
Movie Theatre Haiku
"This gothic, orchestral indie-pop is sure to leave heads spinning with its unique and haunting sound." - NPR's Second Stage
"This is an album for the ages." - Racket Magazine
My third solo album took a loooong time to make. Like, we're talking Steely Dan-level waiting here. Why? I got scared. So I recorded and released The Drunken Dance instead. Once I had, I realized what was missing here: just... courage. Made with the help of Mike Coykendall (She & Him, Bright Eyes, Beth Orton), Jeff Stuart Saltzman (Typhoon, Menomena, Stephen Malkmus), and Rob Stroup (Scott Fisher, Debra Arlyn), and a dozen other friends.
The Drunken Dance of Modern Man in Love
"Poetic, evocative." - LA Times
"Without a doubt one of the strongest independent releases that has come into my hands this year." - Reax Music
Chosen by Willamette Week as one of the best albums of 2007, my second solo effort was recorded in two weeks at Type Foundry in Portland, Oregon with Adam Selzer (M Ward, The Decemberists) producing. Some people like Side A better. Some people prefer Side B. Some people swear by the whole thing.
THE SORT OFS: Anxiety on Parade
"It’s rare for a band to come out of the gate with a debut as impressive and confident as “Anxiety on Parade." - Portland Tribune
THE SORT OFs aimed to make a kind of personal political music in the era of George W. Bush.
At the heart of most of these songs is a bashing keyboard/drums duo; then we added a bunch of harmonies, raw guitar, and the occasional orchestral flourish.
A decade later, I'm still really proud of this record.
this is the
"this is the deserves a place among your Elliot Smith, Badly Drawn Boy, John Lennon, and — yes, even your Guns ‘N Roses albums." - Splendid
"this is the is what John Lennon would be doing today." - Music Liberation Project
After my ex-wife kindly convinced me I could, I made an album with my own name on it. This solo debut was recorded over four days at Type Foundry in Portland, Oregon with Adam Selzer engineering. I played and sang everything on the record except for the drums on the final song. I was young. I was hungry. I was terrified.