As of March 2024, he had amassed over 6.6 million monthly streamers on Spotify.[17] His YouTube channel, which he began in November 2012, sits at 2.22 million subscribers and 555 million video views as of June 2024.[18] Skinner released his fourth studio album, Sleepyhead, in March 2020[19] and his fifth, Worm Food, in November 2022.
Skinner began his YouTube channel in November 2012 and uploaded his first video, an original song named "Haunted Lullaby", in October 2013.[24][25] The first song Skinner wrote and recorded was "Rain" in 2013.[26] Soon after, Skinner began releasing music to Bandcamp with his first album, Everything Is Made of Clouds, at the age of 14.[27][28] He released Gd Vibes, Nervous Friends // Pt. 1, Balance (as brother) and Everything is Made of Stars on Bandcamp over the following two years.[29][30][31][32] Critics expressed that he felt "the acceptance of ignorance" on Gd Vibes.[33] Skinner released his debut single "This is Home" in August 2015,[34] before releasing his debut self-titled album in November 2015.[35] Critics described the album Cavetown as "an eclectic mix of acoustic and electronic".[36] Skinner continued to publish covers of songs onto his YouTube channel from artists such as Pinegrove, Twenty One Pilots and Joji.[22]
In 2016, Skinner released his second studio album, 16/04/16.[37] The album includes a mix of "warm, melodic bedroom pop" and "lo-fi indie rock".[3] The album was dedicated to his childhood friend, Jack Graham, who died of leukaemia on the album's titular date. 60% of the album's proceeds were donated to Cancer Research UK.[38]
In April 2017, whilst still at Sixth Form College, Skinner reached the final of the Cambridge Band Competition, winning both Best Acoustic Act and the Kimberley Rew Award for Songwriting, and went on to play at Strawberry Fair in June 2017. In 2018, he released his third album, Lemon Boy. As of November 2022[update], the album's title track has amassed 54 million streams on Spotify and 28 million views on YouTube.[39][40]
2019–2021: Animal Kingdom, Sleepyhead and Man's Best Friend
In 2019, Skinner released five split singles which were later compiled into Animal Kingdom, a mixtape of ten tracks including covers and original singles with guest appearances from Sidney Gish, Simi, Chloe Moriondo and Spookyghostboy.[41][42][43] He produced the single "Prom Dress" by Mxmtoon, which has gained over 152 million streams on Spotify and has been used in over 100,000 videos on the video-sharing platform TikTok.[44][45][46] The single was featured on Mxmtoon's debut album The Masquerade, which was also fully produced by Skinner.[47] Skinner performed on the Acoustic Stage at Victorious Festival in August 2019.[48] He signed under Sire Records in 2019 where he released the single "Telescope" ahead of his upcoming album, later announced as Sleepyhead.[41] Skinner embarked on a series of sold-out worldwide headlining tours in October 2019. He played on tour at 31 venues in the US and 15 venues in the UK over the space of four months.[41] He was joined by Hunny and Mxmtoon for a few shows in the UK tour,[49][50] as well as Field Medic and Chloe Moriondo for a few shows in the US tour.[41] In October 2019, Skinner announced his headlining tour along Australia's east coast, which took place in January 2020, where he was accompanied by Spookyghostboy.[51]
In 2020, Skinner released his major label debut album Sleepyhead,[19] and appeared on the Recording Academy's Sessions series in support of MusiCares.[52][53] He cancelled the tour in support of Sleepyhead due to the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020.[54] In July 2020, Skinner collaborated with Tessa Violet on the single "Smoke Signals" and announced the launch of his unisex clothing line Cave Collective.[55]
In June 2021, he released his extended play Man's Best Friend.[56]
In 2022, Skinner released several singles, three of which were part of the album Worm Food, released 4 November.[57]Worm Food includes 13 tracks, featuring guests such as Pierce the Veil, Beabadoobee, and Chloe Moriondo.[58] Skinner released the extended playLittle Vice on 23 February 2024. In June 2024, Skinner announced that he had been released from his contract with Sire Records, and released a cover of the Mitski song "My Love Mine All Mine" through Many Hats Distribution.[59][60]
^Skinner uses "he/him" and "they/them" pronouns. This article uses "he/him" pronouns for consistency.
^ abcdeThe full mixtape album Animal Kingdom was released in a series of 5 single sets over the space of 4 months, starting with Animal Kingdom: Sandy which was released on 28 November 2018 and ending with Animal Kingdom: Jackson which was released on 28 March 2019.
^ ab"Trying Not to Cry", which was released in 2021 by Kina with Cavetown as a featured artist, was remixed and released by Cavetown (without Kina) under the title "Grocery Store" in 2022.
^ abcde"Cavetown's "Sweet Tooth" Will Leave You Craving More". Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2020 – via veniceoarsman. The Indie rock/indie pop artist Robin Daniel Skinner, more commonly known as Cavetown, incorporates elements of low-fi and indie folk music into his bedroom pop-style music.
^Ginsberg, Gab (17 January 2020). "Welcome to Cavetown's World, A Place That Feels Like Home". Billboard. Retrieved 20 April 2024. Robin "Robbie" Skinner, aka Cavetown, walks in wearing jeans rolled up at the ankles with checkered Vans, and greets the room as if we're all gathered at a club after school.