Dave Rowntree steps out on his own with ‘London Bridge’

You may know Dave Rowntree as the drummer for Blur, but the English musician has a surprisingly jam-packed resume. He’s an animator with legal training, a soundtrack composer, and a podcast host. In recent years he served as a Labour Party councillor, and he even supported the Beagle 2 space mission and helped get music to Mars.

So learning that Rowntree has a solo album on the way just…makes sense.

Rowntree’s debut single is “London Bridge,” a synth-based song that feels both sophisticated and free-spirited. It’s rooted in strong new-wave electronic beats and a melodic repetition reminiscent of Kraftwerk, with Rowntree’s voice driving the melody with confidence and cool. 

“When I first moved to London with Blur,” Rowntree told NME in a recent interview, something he called “pattern recognition trickery” began happening for him at London Bridge. “Things would happen around there that suddenly made the place seem bizarrely meaningful in my life – as if the universe was trying to scream ‘LONDON BRIDGE’ at me!” 

So, he continued, “the genesis of the song was, ‘Isn’t it strange that this sense of place can take up so much of your mind’.” 

No date has been set yet for Rowntree’s upcoming solo album.