ABOUT
Robert Crosbie / Geisha is the creation of Irish musician Robert Crosbie, best known for his work with Dublin band Sun Mahshene. From its beginnings in 2007 with the debut album "The Sounds of Geisha", this has been less a project and more an unfolding journey; one that drifts between stillness and intensity, intimacy and scale. That first album was a study in quiet beauty, a series of ambient pieces that established the meditative heart of Robert Crosbie / Geisha's music.
What followed was a steady deepening of sound. "Light Everlasting" (2009) brought a more physical presence - percussion, samples, bass tones rumbling beneath shimmering textures - while "Further / Closer" (2013) pushed things outward into widescreen, where downtempo electronica and experimental music converged. By then, the Geisha voice was unmistakable: rich in atmosphere, unafraid of space, and capable of moving between fragility and boldness.
The mid-2010s saw Robert Crosbie / Geisha exploring rhythm and scale with a freer hand. EPs such as "19,000 Objects" and "Pegasus Tornado" leaned into trip hop grooves, dub pulses, and cosmic drift, while the epic, expansive album "The Delirium Introduction" (2015) stretched further, folding in ambient house and flashes of psychedelia.
Then came "A Sound Is a Memory" (2016) - not so much a collection of songs as a single flow of music, fragments bleeding into each other, punctuated by children’s voices and strange interjections. Alongside it, the long-form "Airways" suite revealed a fascination with extended structure, music that felt less written than discovered.
Each new release seemed to find a different temperature. "Family Album" (2017) was warm and organic, mapping the arc of a day, while the same year's "Aliens" pulled darker forces into play, all jagged edges and heavy textures that still yielded to moments of unexpected beauty. By the time of "Light Touching For Heaven in an Everlasting Mercury" (2018), Robert Crosbie / Geisha had fully embraced the cinematic, his voice appearing for the first time amid propulsive beats, Pink Floyd-like expanses, and passages of hushed reverie.
The 2020s brought a new phase. The twin EPs "Hummm" and "Turbulent Mediator" revealed a shoegaze streak: delayed guitars, full-band dynamics, a blur of colour and texture. The "Airways" cycle continued with further chapters, and then came a trilogy of albums rooted in a late ’80s / early ’90s ethos: "Afterglow" (2021), "The Global Machine" (2022), and "Epoch" (2023). Together they reimagined the sounds of that era: big drums, fretless bass, moody synths, and progressive ambition, woven seamlessly into Robert Crosbie / Geisha’s own palette of ambience, dub depth, and guitar haze.
From there, the scope widened yet again. Recorded in 2019 but unreleased until summer 2025, "The Universal Reveal" stretched outward with a grittier, more urban force, a record that felt both cosmic and grounded. And then, almost as if in response, came "The Yellow House" - intimate where its predecessor was vast, a record of hushed spaces, glowing warmth, and personal reflection.
Across this body of work - albums, EPs, sprawling long-form pieces, and archival collections - Robert Crosbie / Geisha has pursued a singular vision: to make electronic music organically, folding in live instruments, atmosphere, and human touch. Drawing on influences as varied as Susumu Yokota, The Orb, Seefeel, The Beatles, Boards of Canada, Air, Brian Eno, and King Crimson, Geisha is not a genre exercise but a continuous act of transformation.
The sound of Geisha is a story still unfolding — expansive, intimate, and entirely its own.
REVIEWS/PRESS
Beach Sloth: "...epic works...meticulously crafted...reaches a point of pure nirvana..."
Red Bull: Top Irish albums of 2013 (Geisha at #28)
Dan Hegarty (2FM): "‘Further/Closer’ is a stunning piece of work from Geisha. It is perhaps the perfect soundtrack to those twilight hours where the world seems to slow down momentarily. This is music that crosses generations and genres. A compliment too far? Listen and judge for yourself."
Cyclic Defrost: "...deep, immersive stuff that contains more than a bit of unease just below the surface..."
Tuning Into The Obscure: "...a definite masterpiece...everything on this album works and fits perfectly and leaves me aching for a follow up"
Vital Weekly: "...Geisha shares the same affinity with The Orb when comes to placing such distinctly different musical genres next to each other and actually can get away with it"
Road Records: "..."Fans of the ambient glitchy soundscapes of the likes of Christian Fennesz, Brian Eno and Susumu Yokoto will instantly fall in love with this understated little gem of an album. There is some lovely slide guitar sounds thrown over the top of this totally dreamlike sound to create one of the finest Irish collections of ambient electronic music; really, really superb stuff and well worth your attention" (on "The Sounds Of Geisha")