Robert F Cranny is one of the country’s most respected songwriters, but until now, his distinctive turn of phrase, and eye for detail have mostly been used in service of other artists. In 2025, Cranny will take centre stage on a series of releases that runs the gauntlet from a full-length piano-led band recording that casts Cranny as a self-aware Springsteen, to the wry wit and warm humanity of his debut solo recordings.
Cranny’s songwriting and production work first entered the Australian consciousness 21 years ago, as one of the main architects of Sarah Blasko’s debut album The Overture and the Underscore. Cranny co-wrote and co-produced the album, which achieved Platinum status in Australia.
This was followed up quickly by Blasko’s sophomore album, What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have. Again, Cranny co-wrote every song on the album, co-produced the record, and arranged the orchestration. It also sold Platinum, and won the ARIA Award for Best Pop Release in 2007.
After this, he formed the record label Enchanted – a vehicle for critically acclaimed albums from theredsunband and Sianna Lee – and produced records by Leonardo’s Bride vocalist, Abby Dobson, storied songwriter Ben Salter, and Melbourne indie-rock band Gersey.
Cranny’s songs have soundtracked pivotal moments on US television shows Six Feet Under, One Tree Hill, and The Royals over the years, not to mention being a staple of numerous train station buskers that have worked ‘Don’t U Eva’ into their sets over the years. He’s ‘got a way with words’, as the buskers sing.
In late 2020, Cranny released the Monuments of Debris EP under the Peachfield name, a six-piece band that played a selection of his “sweeping exploration[s] of young Australian lives, set in urban, coastal and rural cities and towns”, as a review in Melbourne street press Beat raved at the time. That band has since splintered and made way for Party Crashers, a new recording project featuring members of Peachfield, along with Owen Penglis of Straight Arrows.
The debut Party Crashers album comes out in April and will be followed in smart succession by the debut EP from Robert F Cranny, solo artist. The first single from that record, No Escape, is already enjoying lashings of airplay around the country.
After that, 2025 holds more aural treats, including the vinyl reissuing of Blasko’s first two albums, and the long-awaited release of a dream-pop record from yet another Cranny project, The Gaze. Then, I guess it’s finally time for the debut solo album – after all, Cranny is certainly never short of a tune or ten.
