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Sep 8, 2014Sure, the eccentricities of other solo efforts like Eye or I Often Dream of Trains are missing, but to complain about that would be asking for a lack of honesty that The Man Upstairs simply refuses to provide.
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Aug 28, 2014Robyn Hitchcock's latest release, The Man Upstairs, stands amongst his all-time best albums. His finest work in years, the opening three songs are stunning, mesmerising even, in their intimate beauty.
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Aug 25, 2014Robyn brings an affecting vulnerability to all the performances. Whimsicality is turned down a couple of notches and the tenderness that has always underpinned his best material shines through.
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Aug 25, 2014At times, a startling album--one that will please Hitchcock obsessives and also provides a decent gateway for the uninitiated.
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MojoAug 22, 2014Hitchcock's own songs--especially Trouble In Your Blood and San Francisco Patrol--maintain the heartsick mood, drawing the corners of this record together into a beautifully measured whole. [Sep 2014, p.91]
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UncutAug 22, 2014If his 20th solo album, The Man Upstairs, is less excitable than the likes of Underwater Moonlight, Fegmania! and Queen Elvis, it's a change that many Hitchcock agnostics will welcome. [Sep 2014, p.68]
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Aug 26, 2014Overall, The Man Upstairs is an exceptionally well-conceived and well-executed project from Hitchcock and Boyd.
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Classic Rock MagazineDec 18, 2014To Turn You On and The Ghost In You sound uncannily like Nick Drake gone glam, but it works. [Sep 2014, p.94]
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Aug 26, 2014Intriguing and introspective, The Man Upstairs warrants considerable praise.
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Aug 25, 2014By no means is this a fresh egg, but you’re in good hands when Hitchcock’s picking ‘em.
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Aug 26, 2014The Man Upstairs has warmth and charm galore, but it needs someone, anyone, reaching down to more strongly pull the strings.
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Jan 7, 2015While there is nothing particular off about this quiet, solid collection--consisting of little more than Hitchcock’s voice over quite acoustic guitars and the occasional piano and cello--it’s still a pretty muted, low-energy affair that is not immediately memorable.
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Sep 12, 2014Taking the piss by playing against type, Hitchcock’s The Man Upstairs is devoid of any mystery or humor, refuting the claim that “A Robyn Hitchcock album always sounds like a Robyn Hitchcock album.”
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Q MagazineAug 29, 2014To a drumless folk palette of voice, guitar, piano and cello, he deftly blends his own compositions with covers of The Psychedelic Furs, Roxy Music and The Doors into a sweetly morose song suite that examines the heartsick mature male, post-love affair, wondering what it's all about. [Oct 2014, p.110]
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Aug 26, 2014Not everything clicks, but Hitchcockian takes on songs like Roxy Music's "To Turn You On," the Psychedelic Furs' "The Ghost in You" and his own "Trouble in Your Blood" are hushed and lovely.
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Aug 25, 2014Five choice covers and five new originals that flirt with the fantastic, yet avoid an unnecessary trip down the rabbit hole.
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Aug 22, 2014The Man Upstairs is nearly dominated by unremarkable covers, often of songs dating from Hitchcock's own heyday and formative years.