Chris Robley

By day, Chris Robley is a mild-mannered worker at the trendsetting, online music outlet CD Baby. At night he sheds his inhibitions and delivers songs wherein the forces of darkness and light duel for the souls of men and women in a dark, moody style that sets him apart from your average indie rocker. Solo, or with a small backing combo he calls Fear of Heights, Robley pulls you into his tortured world view with a poetic sensibility that gives his music a depth and wisdom many young songwriters lack. In the studio, he plays almost any instrument you can imagine, and the eclectic arrangements on his second album, The Drunken Dance of Modern Man in Love, are always surprising. It followed in the gloomy footsteps of his debut, 2005's This Is The, another set that blended ambient folk, ominous pop, darkly introspective singer/songwriter fare, and psychedelic bedroom electronica to explore a landscape of desperation and anguish. In a review of the album one clever critic tagged him as the "Stephen King of indie pop." Robley was born at Kent County Hospital, Warwick, RI, not a hot spot for music talent. An only child, he spent a lot of time alone, inventing stories and tunes to keep himself occupied in a town he characterizes as a "safe little bubble." He developed a taste for solitude and songwriting early on after a life-changing experience listening to Paul Simon's concert in Central Park, the one without Garfunkel, live on Radio One. He'd cued up a tape recorder and after waiting for weeks captured a guitar solo in "The Boy in the Bubble" that excited him more than anything else he'd ever heard. He immediately ran into the living room and told his parents he wanted a guitar. Remembering that he'd quit piano lessons after three years, they were dubious. They suggested...