Weirdly Normal by Robin Ince and Rachel Taylor-Beales
To celebrate the release of his new book Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal, Robin Ince has teamed up with musician Rachel Taylor-Beales to create a digital EP of eclectic poems that serve as a sonic companion to the book.
Moving between personal and political reflections, odes and offerings, gut-wrenching tales and witty observations, this EP invites us to renew our imaginations and embrace the wide, weird, and wondrous spectrum of what it means to be human.
Recorded live in the bottom left-hand corner of Wales, at Rachel and Bill Taylor-Beales Hushland studio, this EP captures the magic of Robin’s crafted poetry alongside Rachel’s improvised melodies as they responded to each other in real time. Additional live musical input came from Bill Taylor-Beales who took off his sound engineer’s hat, to don his blues cap with electric guitar for ‘Purple Thrills.’ To enhance the energy of these live takes, Rachel added further melodic textures embedding Robin’s rich palette of spoken word within the soundscapes.
Under the banner of ‘Normally Weird Associates’ Robin and Rachel plan to follow their Weirdly Normal Ep with more themed musical-poetry collections, collaborations and tour dates. Watch this space.
Robin’s book Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal was published by Pan Macmillan on May 1st 2025 and is available from buy from all good bookshops, with signed copies available online from https://cosmicshambles.myshopify.com
Also available at libraries.
For more information about Robin please visit https://robinince.com
For more information about Rachel please visit https://www.racheltaylor-beales.com
To hear more of Rachel’s music head to https://racheltaylor-beales.bandcamp.com
Tracklist
| 1. | Introduction | 1:09 |
| 2. | Dark Angels | 2:36 |
| 3. | Banter | 1:11 |
| 4. | Weapons Of Empathy | 2:55 |
| 5. | A Failure Of Imagination | 3:38 |
| 6. | The Ballad Of The Noble Tin Plater | 1:03 |
| 7. | Introduction To Greta | 0:50 |
| 8. | Greta | 0:57 |
| 9. | Spaghetti | 1:25 |
| 10. | Purple Thrills | 2:58 |
| 11. | Permissible Power Of The Peeping Tom | 1:42 |
| 12. | Marple Road | 1:45 |
| 13. | Ethical Loneliness | 2:03 |
Credits
All words written and performed by Robin Ince
All music composed, arranged and performed by Rachel Taylor-Beales except tracks 4, 10, 13, composed and arranged Rachel Taylor-Beales with additional instrumentation created and performed by Bill Taylor-Beales.
Rachel plays: electric guitars, acoustic guitars, merlin, keys, organ, toy melodica, banjo, steel tongue drum, midi strings, harmonica.
Bill plays: electric guitar, drum and percussion programming.
Engineered and recorded by Bill Taylor-Beales.
Mixed and Co-produced by Rachel and Bill Taylor-Beales at Hushland Studio, Wales 2025.
Many thanks to Gary Robert Jones for providing the EP cover photograph.
Graphic design Bill Taylor-Beales.
Dark Angels track art by Rachel Taylor-Beales (mixed media collage).
License
All rights reserved.
NWA are friends and creative collaborators making work connected to Robin's latest projects.
Robin Ince is an author, broadcaster, poet, comedian, also affectionately known as the 'be-cardiganed polymath'
Rachel Taylor-Beales is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who also dabbles in playwriting, poetry and painting.