"The science is way off," says Maine-based songwriter Chris Robley of his new single 'Collapsing Star,' musing on how pop music is rife with mixed metaphors and factual inaccuracies. ""In this song a giant sun steadily dims and shrinks; I think stars actually get big and bright before they finally collapse, but I chose sentiment over science." 

Robley, whose previous album saw him "at the top of his game" (KCRW), has been releasing a series of singles over the past year, the latest of which is a song about the promise of devotion in the face of aging. It’s a Bowie by-way-of Death Cab sprawl, both epic and ultimately tender, the music patiently shrinking under its own slow gravity.

Recorded at Secret Society and Mysyerious Beard Studios in Portland, Oregon.

Engineered and mixed by Jeff Stuart Saltzman.

Mastered by Adam Gonsalves at Telegraph.

Performed by: Arthur Parker (synth bass), Daniel Adlaf (keys and synth), John Stewart (drums), and Chris Robley (voice, guitars, glockenspiel).

Chris Robley - "Collapsing Star"

Chris Robley is a poet, songwriter, and producer whose lush, orchestral indie-pop has been praised by NPR, the LA Times, the Boston Globe, and others. Skyscraper Magazine said he is “one of the best short-story musicians to come along in quite some time.”

Robley’s poetry has been published or is forthcoming in POETRY Magazine, Prairie Schooner, Poetry Northwest, Beloit Poetry Journal, RHINO, Magma Poetry, and more. He is the winner of Boulevard’s 2013 Poetry Prize for Emerging Writers and a 2014 recipient of the Maine Literary Award for poetry.

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Chris Robley - "Collapsing Star"

Chris Robley Music