Rumer (musician)

Rumer in 2010

Under the name of Sarah Prentice, Sarah sang with a moderately successful London-based folk/indie band called La Honda between 2000 and 2001.[16] In 2004, she formed the band Rumer & The Denials and released an early version of "Come To Me High" on 7" in 2007.[17] Their Myspace page, now closed, included an acoustic recording of "Slow", which was included on the compilation album A Very Magistery Valentine.[18] A collection of material was recorded in 2008 with Rory Moore under the name Stereo Venus. This was aimed at television and film and was originally distributed in Europe. An album was released in 2012 entitled Close to the Sun and the band played support for Saint Etienne. The material was also released under her real name, Sarah Joyce in South Korea in April 2010 as Coffee And Honey.[19]

Rumer's debut album Seasons of My Soul was released on 1 November 2010, produced by her mentor, British composer Steve Brown.[20] Her debut single, "Slow", was featured on Smooth FM, and the single "Aretha" on BBC Radio 2's Record of the Week feature, and she is signed to Atlantic Records. Seasons of My Soul, peaked on the UK Charts at #3,[21] was listed at #26 in the Official Top 40 Biggest Debut Albums of the Decade in 2019,[6] and was certified platinum in 2013 having sold over one million copies.[5] She supported Jools Holland on his UK tour in the Autumn of 2010 which included a performance at the Albert Hall in London.[22]

Rumer received a personal note from Richard Carpenter regarding her debut album, "You not only sing beautifully," writes Carpenter, "but what you've created is actually musical, something that has been in short supply in recent years. The fact that the album is a sales success as well is reassuring to me, as I still firmly believe that if the public is exposed to music that is natural and of high quality, they will respond positively. Congratulations".[23]

After Burt Bacharach invited Rumer to his California home to hear her sing, Atlantic Records released Rumer Sings Bacharach at Christmas on 13 December 2010. It featured "Some Lovers" from the musical Gift of the Magi by Bacharach and Steven Sater.[24][25] A limited edition 7-inch vinyl version was also released with a cover personally designed by Rumer.[26]

Rumer also contributed to a memorial concert to film composer, John Barry, which took place on 20 June 2011 at the Royal Albert Hall in London where the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Dame Shirley Bassey, David Arnold, Wynne Evans, trumpeter Derek Watkins and others performed Barry's music.[27][28][29] Rumer performed the John Barry/Hal David song "We Have All the Time in the World" accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Dodd. She recorded the track "I Believe in You" for the end credits to Johnny English Reborn, released in October 2011. In January 2012 she started her first American tour in Los Angeles. A multi-national Facebook fan group, "Rumer Worldwide Fans", was founded by a fan in San Francisco on 25 January 2012.

Rumer's second album Boys Don't Cry was released on 28 May 2012. It contains a selection of songs by male artists and writers from the 70s and 80s period. Covers of songs by artists such as Todd Rundgren, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Neil Young and Terry Reid were chosen to mirror the solace and anguish Rumer experienced since achieving success and fame (BBC Music review).[30] The majority of Boys Don't Cry was recorded at the same time as, or before Seasons of My Soul, but two weeks before the deadline Rumer and Steve Brown irreparably fell out. Rumer sought urgent help to finish the record and enlisted family friend Jennie Muskett, a notable film and TV composer to step in and help realise her vision in Steve's absence. A lot of the music had to be re-recorded at RAK Studios with John Paraceli on guitar, Ian Thomas and Steve Pierce on drums and Dave Hartley on piano.

Rumer's version of PF Sloan written by Jimmy Webb was released as a single, followed by a second single written by Hall and Oates, "Sara Smile". She appeared on The Andrew Marr show with Jools Holland at the end of 2012 and performed with Jimmy Webb on CBS Second Cup Cafe in September 2013.[31] Rumer was interviewed on The Graham Norton show and performed PF Sloan, just previous to the release of Boys Don't Cry. Rumer later performed "P.F. Sloan" as a duet with P.F. Sloan on 14 June 2014. Webb invited her to perform the song at Live at MacArthur Park, Los Angeles on 15 June 2013.[32] Webb then invited Rumer to record, Still Within The Sound of My Voice, (written by Jimmy Webb) which was the title track on Webb's album, Still Within the Sound of My Voice which included other guest performances by Keith Urban, Carly Simon, among others, released later in 2013.

Rumer released her second album of all original material, and her third total studio album, Into Colour on 10 November 2014 in the UK, Ireland and Japan, peaking at #12 on the UK Charts.[33] The record was then released worldwide in early 2015 by Atlantic Records. The first song to be released from the album was "Dangerous", which takes Rumer in a more disco direction. The song was made available on her SoundCloud page in September 2014.[34]

In 2015, Rumer released a collection of unreleased tracks and B-sides from her back catalog entitled, B Sides & Rarities. The collection features collaborations with the likes of Dionne Warwick, Stephen Bishop and Michael Feinstein.[35]

On 11 December 2015, Rumer released a four-track EP entitled Love is the Answer.

Rumer's fourth album, released under the East West Records label, features Rumer's take on select tracks from the songbook of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It was released on 25 November 2016. Rumer remarked about how this album "was one she couldn't have made five years ago" and that how she felt that she had the right "emotional palette" to draw on the songs she recorded. It was produced by her husband and producer Rob Shirakbari at Capitol Studios in early 2016. In October, Rumer played her first London gig in over 2 years at London's Cadogan Hall.[36]

Rumer contributed to Trevor Horn's album Reimagines the Eighties, released in January 2019.

Rumer released her fifth studio album, and her third album of covers, Nashville Tears (The Songs of Hugh Prestwood), on 14 August 2020. The album, which originally was scheduled for a May 2020 release, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[37] Nashville Tears includes covers of songs from singer-songwriter Hugh Prestwood. "Creating this album was the beginning of a joyful time in my life," Rumer explained about the record. "I was listening to Hugh Prestwood's catalog all day and doing the dishes and walking the dog and taking care of my baby. It was a wonderful time....with this record, through Hugh Prestwood's words, I wanted to create a piece of work that would, to me be like a tapestry of America how I felt it and saw it, and I feel like I did just that."[38]

• "Slave to the Rhythm" on Trevor Horn's Reimagines the Eighties
• "Still Within The Sound Of My Voice" on Jimmy Webb's Still Within The Sound Of My Voice