Cavetown | ||||||||||
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![]() Cavetown performing in 2024 | ||||||||||
Background information | ||||||||||
Also known as | brother [1] [2] | |||||||||
Born | Oxford, England | 15 December 1998|||||||||
Origin | Cambridge, England [3] | |||||||||
Genres | ||||||||||
Occupations |
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Instruments | ||||||||||
Years active | 2012–present | |||||||||
Labels | ||||||||||
Website | cave | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Genres |
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Subscribers | 2.23 million [12] | |||||||||
Total views | 528 million [12] | |||||||||
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Last updated: 5 February 2024 |
Robin DanielSkinner [13] [14] (born 15 December 1998), [3] known professionally as Cavetown (sometimes stylised in all lowercase), [15] [16] is an English singer-songwriter, record producer, and YouTuber. His [a] style blends elements of indie rock, indie pop and bedroom pop with mellow, gentle ukulele ballads. [3]
As of March 2024, he had amassed over 6.6 million monthly streamers on Spotify. [17] His YouTube channel, which he began in November 2012, sits at 2.23 million subscribers and 561 million video views as of June 2024. [18] Skinner released his fifth studio album, Worm Food, in November 2022. [19]
Skinner was born in Oxford, England, on 15 December 1998. [3] [20] His interest in music was inspired by his father, David Skinner, a musicologist and choir director, who taught him how to play the acoustic guitar at the age of eight. [21] [22] His mother is a professional Baroque flautist and music teacher. He was raised in Cambridge and attended Parkside Community College from 2010 to 2015 and Hills Road Sixth Form College until 2017. [23]
Skinner began his YouTube channel in November 2012 and uploaded his first video, an original song named "Haunted Lullaby", in October 2013. [24] [25] Soon after, Skinner began releasing music to Bandcamp with his first album, Everything Is Made of Clouds, at the age of 14. [26] [27] He released Gd Vibes, Nervous Friends // Pt. 1, Balance (as brother) and Everything is Made of Stars on Bandcamp over the following two years. [28] [29] [30] [31] Critics expressed that he felt "the acceptance of ignorance" on Gd Vibes. [32] Skinner released his debut single "This is Home" in August 2015, [33] before releasing his debut self-titled album in November 2015. [34] Critics described the album Cavetown as "an eclectic mix of acoustic and electronic". [35] Skinner continued to publish covers of songs onto his YouTube channel from artists such as Pinegrove, Twenty One Pilots and Joji. [22]
In 2016, Skinner released his second studio album, 16/04/16. [36] The album includes a mix of "warm, melodic bedroom pop" and "lo-fi indie rock". [3] The album was dedicated to his childhood friend, Jack Graham, who died of leukaemia on the album's titular date. 60% of the album's proceeds were donated to Cancer Research UK. [37]
In 2018, he released his third album, Lemon Boy. [38]
In 2019, Skinner released five split singles which were later compiled into Animal Kingdom, a mixtape of ten tracks including covers and original singles with guest appearances from Sidney Gish, Simi, and Chloe Moriondo. [39] [40] [41] He signed under Sire Records in 2019 where he released the single "Telescope" ahead of his upcoming album, later announced as Sleepyhead. Skinner embarked on a series of sold-out worldwide headlining tours in October 2019 in support of this album. He was joined by Hunny and Mxmtoon for a few shows in the UK tour, [42] [43] as well as Field Medic and Chloe Moriondo for a few shows in the US tour. [39] In October 2019, Skinner announced his headlining tour along Australia's east coast, which took place in January 2020, where he was accompanied by Spookyghostboy. [44]
In 2020, Skinner released his major label debut album Sleepyhead. [45] He cancelled the tour in support of Sleepyhead due to the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020. [46] In July 2020, Skinner collaborated with Tessa Violet on the single "Smoke Signals" and announced the launch of his unisex clothing line Cave Collective. [47]
In 2021, he released the extended play Man's Best Friend. [48]
In 2022, Skinner released several singles, three of which were part of the album Worm Food, released later that year. [19] Worm Food features guests such as Pierce the Veil, Beabadoobee, and Chloe Moriondo. [49] In 2024, Skinner released the extended play Little Vice. [50] [51]
Skinner has stated that he is on both the aromantic and asexual spectrums. [52] [53] He came out as transgender in September 2020. [54] His pronouns are he/they. [55] Skinner lives in Cambridge as of 2019. [3] He has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. [56]
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
UK [57] | US Heat [58] | US Folk [59] | ||
Cavetown [34] |
| — | — | — |
16/04/16 [36] |
| — | — | — |
Lemon Boy [60] |
| — | — | — |
Sleepyhead [61] |
| 52 | 12 | 16 |
Worm Food |
| 39 | — | — |
Title | Details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
US Heat. ENC [62] | ||
Dear. [63] |
| 6 |
Man's Best Friend |
| — |
little vice |
| — |
Title | Details |
---|---|
Animal Kingdom [67] |
|
Year | Title [68] | Certifications | Album/EP |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | "Devil Town" | Cavetown | |
"This Is Home" | Non-album single | ||
2018 | "Lemon Boy" |
| Lemon Boy |
"Just Add Water" | Dear. | ||
"Juliet" |
| Animal Kingdom: Sandy [b] | |
"Boys Will Be Bugs" | Animal Kingdom: Comet [b] | ||
2019 | "Advice" | Animal Kingdom: Ash [b] | |
"Self Control" (Frank Ocean cover) | Animal Kingdom: Shells [b] | ||
"Hug All Ur Friends" | Animal Kingdom: Jackson [b] | ||
"Home" |
| Non-album single | |
"Feb 14" | Sleepyhead | ||
"Telescope" | |||
"Things That Make It Warm" | |||
"You've Got a Friend in Me" (Randy Newman cover) [71] | Non-album single | ||
2020 | "Sweet Tooth" | Sleepyhead | |
"I Miss My Mum" | |||
"Smoke Signals" (feat. Tessa Violet) | Non-album single | ||
"Sharpener" | Man's Best Friend | ||
2021 | "Sharpener's Calling Me Again" (feat. Kina) | Non-album single | |
"Paul" (Big Thief cover) | Man's Best Friend | ||
"Ur Gonna Wish U Believed Me" | |||
"Teenage Dirtbag" (feat. Chloe Moriondo) (Wheatus cover) | Non-album single | ||
2022 | "squares" | squares / y 13 | |
"y 13" | |||
"Fall in Love with a Girl" (feat. Beabadoobee) | Worm Food | ||
"Fall in Love with a Girl" (feat. Orla Gartland) [72] | Non-album single | ||
"Grocery Store" [c] | Non-album single | ||
"1994" | Worm Food | ||
"Frog" | |||
2023 | "del mar county fair 2008" (Underscores cover) | Non-album single | |
"glacier meadow" (feat. Field Medic) | little vice | ||
2024 | "let them know they're on your mind" | ||
"let them know they're on your mind"(acoustic) |
Year | Title [68] | Album/EP |
---|---|---|
2018 | "Devil Town" (with Kevin Devine) | Devinyl Splits No. 11 |
2020 | "Is Your Bedroom Ceiling Bored?" (with Sody) | Non-album singles |
"Lemons" (with Brye) | ||
"Was It Something I Said" (with Mykey) [73] | ||
2021 | "Struck by Lighting" (with Sara Kays) | |
"Trying Not to Cry" (with Kina) [c] | ||
2024 | "Dirty Devil Town" (with Mother Mother) [74] |
Year | Title | Certifications | Album/EP |
---|---|---|---|
2018 | "Fool" |
| Lemon Boy |
as Cavetown [15]
as brother [1]
The Indie rock/indie pop artist Robin Daniel Skinner, more commonly known as Cavetown, incorporates elements of low-fi and indie folk music into his bedroom pop-style music.
Robin "Robbie" Skinner, aka Cavetown, walks in wearing jeans rolled up at the ankles with checkered Vans, and greets the room as if we're all gathered at a club after school.