Portland, Oregon native Rachel Taylor Brown works as a singer, songwriter, and pianist whose quirky alt-pop merges a dark chamber-music palette with glam-tinged arena-rock textures, propelled by eccentric lyrics that confront difficult and often unsettling themes—one critic consequently coined the term “creep rock” for her approach. She first explored the piano by ear during childhood, began formal lessons at age six, and sustained an independent streak throughout her studies, ultimately receiving a B.A. from the University of Oregon School of Music. Over the years she has contributed vocals to classical groups such as Portland’s Capella Romana, Trinity Consort, and Portland Baroque Orchestra, as well as Seattle’s Tudor Choir, while also channeling her rock inclinations through two projects shared with Chris Robley—the Sort Ofs and the Fear of Heights. Brown has traced the origins of her intricate, haunting, and exacting compositional voice to a nervous breakdown followed by eight years of relative isolation during recovery. Her debut releases appeared on Shrewd Rube Records—2001’s Do Not Stare and 2005’s Jonah Days—before she shifted to Cutthroat Pop and began collaborating with producer Jeff Stuart Saltzman, yielding the 2006 album Ormolu, the 2007 holiday collection 7 Small Winter Songs, and the 2008 set Half Hours with the Lower Creatures. The following year brought Susan Storm’s Ugly Sister and Other Saints and Superheroes. She maintained her singular trajectory with the 2011 albums Songs Without a Home and World So Sweet, then issued Falimy in 2014.
