AUDIO: Robert Russel – “D E L U X E”
Milwaukee’s Robert Russel is back, and this time he’s stretching out. The prolific songwriter’s latest full-length, “D E L U X E,” lives up to its spaced-out title — a rock record that treats each track like its own little universe, packed with hooks that feel both hard-won and effortless.
If you’ve followed Russel’s run of releases, you already know the drill: dense arrangements, off-kilter melodies, and lyrics that read like diary entries filtered through a broken transistor radio. “D E L U X E” doubles down on all of it. Guitars ring out in big, cinematic strokes one minute and coil into jittery, post-punk shapes the next. Underneath it all is a rhythmic backbone that keeps the whole thing grounded, even when the songs threaten to float off entirely.
What makes “D E L U X E” hit is the sequencing. This isn’t a playlist-era collection of singles chasing an algorithm — it’s a proper album, one that rewards listening front to back with a pair of decent headphones and no distractions. Quieter moments open up space for the bigger swings, and by the time the record closes, you get the sense you’ve been walked through a fully realized world rather than dropped into a highlight reel.
Milwaukee’s underground has always thrived on artists willing to follow their weirdest instincts, and Russel remains one of the scene’s most reliable practitioners of that ethos. “D E L U X E” is a confident, richly detailed addition to a catalog that just keeps deepening.
Stream “D E L U X E” in full below and grab a copy directly from the source over at Bandcamp.
