The Band Next Door: Your Neighbors
Frontman Walker Robinson talks on his recent track “DOGMA,” tour with Alfie Templeton, and an album planned for 2025
Back in 2018, I was on the lookout for a band to provide soul-infused, jazz-indie beats with raw and emotive lyrics — obviously to be the background of my entire senior year of high school. Enter Your Neighbors, a rotating mix of recording and touring musicians brought together by Walker Robinson, who just about perfectly filled the gap in my music catalogue.
Flash forward to this October 25, Your Neighbors released their indie-pop single “DOGMA.” An introspective track that follows the results of Robsinson’s religious upbringing, “DOGMA” highlights his existential dilemma with religion. He explained in a recent interview with Pleaser that the lyrics describe moving away from religion as a result of prayers seemingly falling on deaf ears.
“There's a bit of ego depicted in the bridge where the person feels like they’re ‘owed’ a miracle because of how hard their life is,” he said in a press release. “If God doesn't believe in me, why would I believe in them?”
On the bridge, he sings:
Cause every time I pray for an answer, calling
Be-begging on my knees for the things you wanted
It never turns out just the way you want it to
Don't you think you owe me too?
During our conversation, Robinson said “DOGMA” highlights that we as humans only get so many answers to the questions we ask about the world around us. Some things will be unknown, and reconciling with that is part of human existence.
“The human condition is that we won’t find these truths,” he said. “You have to move with whatever faith you want.”
In the seven years since its inception in 2017, Your Neighbors’ discography has explored a wide range of content that breaks the bounds of your typical heartbreak album. Robinson intertwines deep, compelling emotions with a dynamic catalogue that engages listeners and illuminates complex ideas some musicians shy away from. Religious trauma, human connection and disconnection, and nostalgia and childhood memories are all fair game for Robinson.
One highlight is the 2018 single “Ex,” a multi-layered introspection of Robinson’s party days. The track opens with distant chatter and a few lighter flicks. Distorted piano chords begin to play, each note hanging for a few extra seconds, flickering as they fade out. Robinson’s voice cuts in for the first lines:
Well, I’ve been a bad thing
Hooking up with Mary Jane
Two or three times everyday
She gives me every reason to stay
A surface-level listen of this track explores a toxic relationship that you want to leave, but struggle to let go of. The chorus sings:
Well I'm feeling wasted
Don't wanna face it
Cut that girl off, move it along
Face it, need a replacement
Know that woman's doing ya wrong
Upon further inspection, “Ex” is really constructing a deep dive on Robinson’s complicated relationship to marijuana. This track is a prime example of Robinson’s ability to create a multi-layered narrative that analyzes multiple themes at once. He told Pleaser that “Ex” took two or three days to write.
Sonically, “Ex” relies on jazz and funk influences to create its smooth, infectious rhythm. Tight, off-beat snare hits and high-hat additions nourish the distinctive groove, and guitar riffs are infused into every nook and cranny the melody provides. The riffs are sometimes off-beat or in unexpected places, giving the verses a playful unpredictability.
Robinson said “Ex" one of his favorites to play live because there are lots of open instrumental sections prime for jam breaks.
“The band gets to breathe a little bit and just have fun playing off each other,” he said.
Robinson added that back in 2018, “Ex” was the first song of his to break 1,000 streams. If you use Spotify, you know that songs with under 1,000 streams are displayed as <1,000. Breaking that barrier is a win, even if it seems small.
Most of the discography released by Your Neighbors has been written exclusively by Robinson. Up until recently, every single word had been written by him, and he even was a little selfish with his craft.
“I liked keeping it to just me because it felt personal,” he said.
In the recent months, however, he’s been experimenting with using co-writers to help him flesh out his ideas. Working with talented people has nothing but benefitted Robinson, he said, as he felt like he could really learn from them. He mentioned a lot of the tracks on his new album, which is expected to launch in 2025, are co-written.
His recent opening slot with English multi-instrumentalist Alfie Templeton brought Your Neighbors across the country this fall. This was the group’s first support slot, and Robinson said people were so kind and really welcomed them. But it took a little while to manage the “party side of things,” as he put it, as he soon realized that lifestyle was unsustainable.
“It gets old after a while,” he says. “I know what’s going to happen if I go down that road.”
On this tour, Your Neighbors featured bass, drums, guitar and piano; notably missing the signature saxophone heard on many tracks from the band. Robinson said sometimes a saxophone can be too easily relied on as a crowd pleaser, so going without pushes everyone to “step up” their performance.
Your Neighbors is looking to do more touring this spring, so keep an eye out for a potential headline tour coming soon!
