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Roger O'Donnell creates a very different kind of electronic music, a kind that is emotional and organic, not clinical and aloof. Written and performed on a single instrument, the Moog Voyager, and recorded one note at a time, there is nothing programmed or mechanical about his compositions. Instead, they resonate with a sense of freedom and space, delicately textured and alive with innovation.

Having spent the majority of his career as keyboard player for The Cure (as well as for The Psychedelic Furs and Thompson Twins), he emerged as a solo artist with his critically acclaimed 2006 full-length The Truth In Me. This album was the key to his acceptance into the world of modern electronica. With remixes by Dntel, Four Tet and the Album Leaf, Roger broke down the barriers and crossed into another world of music. "I was always somewhat uncomfortable with where I had come from musically, which like many things in life had been driven by need rather than desire.  These guys didn't care though, they just loved the music I was making," Roger admits. Roger has since returned the favour and remixed songs for Dntel (“You Rock My Boat”), Midlake (“My Young Bride”) and most recently, Juana Molina (“Vive Solo”).

Working alone in his home studio, Roger has a very close rapport with the instruments and computer that enable him to create such unique sounds. Having played piano since the age of 5, he acknowledges his instruments and studio as friends. “I remember when I first started recording in studios, a long time ago,” he laughs. “I was scared of everything, when the light turned red I just froze. Now it’s such a warm and happy place for me to be.” He relies on a close relationship with the family at Moog Music and with Apple for his Mac computer, without which he is rarely seen.
           
His latest release, Songs From The Silver Box, further establishes him as an important electronic artist with a definite, distinct and uncompromising sound. Too often electronic music can be cold and heartless, but Roger has again created an emotional, touching record. 

The initial inspiration for the record came when Roger was asked to compose and perform the music for an haute couture fashion collection in Paris for the Georgian designer Irakli. The drawings and impressions of the clothes carried a strong feeling that Roger was determined to continue communicating in his music.

The resulting Songs From The Silver Box is an intimate and private collection of sounds, melodies and rhythms. Intricately woven one thread at a time from a palette of shimmering sounds and beats, this is electronic music in its most human and emotional form.

One of Roger’s proudest achievements, however, has been outside his own musical creation. In 2005 he founded the small digital label 99 Times out of 10. “After so many years in the business I really felt like I wanted to give something back. So we sought out a few bands whose music we loved and asked them if we could help. We see the label as a way of getting people noticed that can then be passed on to “real labels,” he says. It was one of his label’s artists, Bryan Michael of Alka, to whom he turned for beats on a few selected tracks on his latest work.

On Songs From The Silver Box Roger has also collaborated again with his long-term partner, singer and songwriter Erin Lang, whose beautiful vocals are featured on the delicate “Tiny Pieces of You” and the epic “Musique Pour Irakli.” Also appearing on the record is Australian chanteuse Lenka who sings “In Your Hands Now,” a collaboration that actually had to cross several continents and thousands of miles. Lenka worked on her parts of the song in Sydney, whilst Roger remained in England. Versions and re-works would be sent back and forth via email. This free expression of ideas proved to be a process they both very much enjoyed.

When broad shapes and colours become detail and tone and loud gestures turn into the quietest of caresses. When a difficult meeting ends with a fond embrace, then the pleasures of the silver box have been understood.