Rumer has announced details of her much-anticipated debut headline show. She will play London’s Bloomsbury Theatre on 14th September, following the release of her first single, ‘Slow’, on 23 August (Atlantic Records).
Driven by a stop-what-you’re-doing voice, ‘Slow’ is a smouldering, unrequited love song, which has already been A-Listed by the likes of Radio 2, and seen Rumer in session at Maida Vale.
Rumer’s Bloomsbury show follows a summer spent bewitching crowds at the likes of Glastonbury Festival and Hard Rock Calling (where she supported Stevie Wonder). Having lined up big autumn dates with (amongst others) Joshua Radin and Jools Holland, this Bloomsbury show should be an early opportunity to catch the woman Burt Bacharach so wanted to see perform that he flew her to LA to see her sing:
Tuesday September 14th Rumer Bloomsbury Theatre (London) 19.30pm (£15)
An authentic and emotional songwriter, Rumer’s classic yet contemporary sound draws on a complex personal history. She was born and spent the early years of her life in Pakistan, where her father was the chief-engineer of the enormous Tarbela Dam. Having relocated to the New Forest, it emerged that her biological father was in fact the family’s Pakistani cook, with whom her mother had struck up a relationship.
Her parents consequently divorced, and Rumer spent years attempting to break into the music industry. She worked as everything from a pot washer to a popcorn seller back in London, suffering a series of emotional setbacks. Having lived in a caravan to be near her mother – who died of breast cancer in 2003 - Rumer finally sought refuge in a stately home in the countryside. She lived and worked in what was essentially a commune, owned by, she remembers, a "charismatic, philanthropic baronet.” It was here that Rumer finally threw herself back into writing music.
‘Slow’, then, signposts a time when Rumer’s luck started to change. At an Open Mic night in Kensal Rise, she met, by chance, award-winning TV and musical composer Steve Brown (the face of Glen Ponder in Alan Partridge’s ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’). Brown quickly became Rumer’s producer, and gradually, things began to fall into place. She was then found by her manager, when he posted a question not at all related to music on his Facebook page: “Who Is The Most Underrated Person You Know?” Five separate people, none of whom knew each other, replied with the word ‘Rumer’. Finally, in March 2010 - and after a decade of trying to catch a break - Rumer signed to Atlantic Records. She will release her debut album later this autumn.
Tickets to Rumer’s Bloomsbury Theatre show go on sale 9am Friday 6th August at [link]
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