Sharing a sophisticated approach and heartfelt spirit -- as well as bandmembers -- with his previous projects
Talk Talk and
.O.rang,
Paul Webb's
Rustin Man continues his legacy of inventive, introspective music.
Rustin Man's first album, 2002's Out of Season, was a collaboration with
Portishead's
Beth Gibbons that allowed her and
Webb to take their love of
Nina Simone,
Billie Holiday, and
Nick Drake in thoughtful, soulful directions of their own. Nearly two decades later, 2019's haunting
Drift Code and 2020's beautifully eerie
Clockdust proved that the power of
Rustin Man's music had only grown during his time away from the spotlight.
Along with his schoolmate, drummer
Lee Harris,
Webb joined
Talk Talk in 1981. During his time as the band's bassist, he was exposed to music ranging from
Miles Davis to
Van Morrison, thanks in part to singer/songwriter
Mark Hollis' eclectic taste.
Webb's lone solo contribution to the group was "Another Word" from
Talk Talk's 1982 debut album,
The Party's Over. He stayed with the band as their music became more complex on 1984's
It's My Life, 1986's
Colour of Spring, and 1987's ambitious
Spirit of Eden, which reflected
Talk Talk's increasingly experimental sound and contemplative moods.
Webb left
Talk Talk in 1988, and when the band folded in 1992, he reunited with
Harris to form
.O.rang. A more improvisatory and globally inspired act than
Talk Talk,
.O.rang incorporated dub and Krautrock into its sound. The project's first album, 1994's
Herd of Instinct, featured contributions from
Bark Psychosis'
Graham Sutton and
Portishead's
Beth Gibbons. After 1996's
Fields and Waves and the following year's Remixes,
.O.rang went on hiatus.
A few years later,
Webb began working as
Rustin Man and reunited with
Gibbons for 2002's Out of Season, a luminous blend of folk, jazz, and R&B that also featured
Harris and
Gibbons'
Portishead bandmate
Adrian Utley among its cast of players. The album charted in several European countries and earned a silver certification in the U.K. Following Out of Season's release,
Webb produced
James Yorkston's 2007 album
Year of the Leopard and the Belgian band
Dez Mona's 2009 effort Hilfe Kommt, but mostly concentrated on raising his family and converting an old barn into a home and recording studio.
Over the years,
Webb and
Harris worked on
Rustin Man music when they could, transforming Dictaphone demos into painstakingly recorded sessions that featured multiple microphone placements for each instrument. The first set of songs
Webb wrote for himself to sing,
Rustin Man's second album,
Drift Code, arrived in 2019 and included contributions from local orchestral players and
Webb's longtime friend
Snowboy. The following March,
Webb issued
Clockdust, a set of tighter, more structured songs from the sessions that spawned
Drift Code. ~ Heather Phares