Richard Neuberg
After a 16-year hiatus and following years of chronic illness, Viarosa frontman Richard Neuberg returns with the glowing, graceful ‘Crow Needs The Pine’, the first single taken from his forthcoming debut solo album The Vine due 29th May.
Crow Needs The Pine’ tackles ‘love’ but not in a conventional way. It is like an open letter to a friend, imploring them to have hope. “I had someone in particular in mind when I wrote this song” Neuberg explains, “someone who was struggling with themselves and with their relationships. The song implores them/us all to look inside themselves, and to see what might be getting in the way - ‘the ghosts hung on your arm weighing you down’. Ultimately, the song’s message is one of hope - that love can be found ‘on this mountain’, that the heart can be unbound and released from its doubts.”
Neuberg’s old band Viarosa released two critically acclaimed albums and performed with the likes of Josh T Pearson, Robyn Hitchcock and REM. Following the disbandment, Neuberg became a producer of renown before contracting ME/CFS, a debilitating illness with no cure resulting in Neuberg being a virtual shut in. The diagnosis followed a history of tragedy, the loss of his sister to suicide, the loss of his father as a boy, and his mother a couple of years ago.
On his new album The Vine, Neuberg reflects on his pain but with an exceptional songwriting craftmanship that balances the deep darkness so beautifully with hope, making what is a tale of grit and growth sound so exquisitely tender.
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