Blond in Car

BLOND IN CAR

The musical nom de guerre of Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Robin Schorr,
Blond In Car has earned millions of worldwide streams, critical applause, and a fast-growing following for her dreamy, synthed-out take on modern indie pop. Blond In Car now makes its full-length debut with ALTAVAN, weaving irresistable melodies with pungent lyrics, lush arrangements, and pillowy vocal blends, all filtered through Schorr’s singular perspective and musical inspirations. Songs like the retro charmer, “Secret When You See One,” and the smart, snarky “Famous Friend” are loaded with the prettiest of sun-dappled pop hooks while still tinged with a quintessentially LA strain of reflective melancholy, Schorr’s astute lyricism framed by dynamic beats and irrepressible energy. Born of pluckiness, ingenuity, and a deep-rooted desire to find meaning in the modern world, ALTAVAN is an exhilarating introduction to Blond In Car’s genre-blurring creativity and exquisite songcraft.

“I love Blond In Car,” Robin Schorr says. “It’s the most meaningful thing that I’ve done in my life without any question, there’s no close second. To me, it’s like somebody handed me the world’s biggest, most miraculous box of crayons and said, Okay, go do whatever you want. I can use my imagination to create exactly the melodies and sounds I want to hear.”

A native Angeleno, Schorr seemingly had it all – a successful marriage, a loving family, and an enviable career in the film industry, yet somewhere in the back of her mind, she somehow knew she had not truly found her purpose. Revelation struck one sunny afternoon as Schorr listened to country radio while driving on Olympic Boulevard – she was going to become a songwriter.

“I had this crisis of mojo with film,” she says. “I had been defined by climbing that ladder and suddenly it felt utterly pointless. I started meditating and crying a lot. Then I read The Alchemist, which really screwed me up, because it’s all about finding your Personal Legend. I thought, God, I’m going to go to my death a coward, having never found my purpose. Then I miraculously realized that I was put on this planet to be a songwriter. I decided that I would write songs for country artists.”

Never mind that Schorr had not yet written a song and her only musical experience was piano lessons as a girl, singing in the UC Berkeley chorus and a lifetime of indie-rock fandom. She shut the doors on her film company and Schorr traveled to Nashville, keen to master the art of songcraft. Her bold leap of faith was met with almost immediate and wonderfully organic success. She began writing songs with artists in all genres for licensing in film, TV and ads, quickly landing placements for songs in national campaigns for Coke, Samsung, Bose, Hyundai, and Xbox as well as on TV series for Netflix, HBO, Showtime, ABC, and more.

Still, Schorr began feeling the urge to write more personal music. When she met producer Brendan Ferguson Moore, the two discussed their mutual love for Daft Punk and The Zombies and Schorr suggested, “Maybe next time we get together, I’ll be the singer.” Their first collaboration, “Who’s Gonna Love That Girl” emerged fully formed, featuring Schorr’s signature sultry-but-sincere alto vocals, Bacharach-esque melodies, harmonies, and retro modern vibe.

Adopting the moniker Blond In Car – Schorr’s single film credit, which like her Hollywood career itself, was left on the cutting room floor – the duo set to work. Taking the lessons she’d learned in Nashville, Blond In Car proved remarkably productive, releasing a series of monthly singles that drew more than 1.5M streams for such fan favorite tracks as “Climb Inside Your Mind” and “Another Girl,” the latter of which was named “Today’s Top Tune” by Los Angeles’ renowned KCRW.

Alas, Blond In Car hit a roadblock in 2020 when Moore opted to leave Los Angeles following lockdown. Now fully at the wheel as the sole member of Blond In Car, Schorr began collaborating with producer Gabe Lehner (9 Theory), pushing the project towards even greater heights with her remarkable debut album, ALTAVAN. Named for Altavan Avenue, in the Westchester neighborhood near LAX where Schorr grew up, the album is a self-described “love/hate letter to LA” in which the songwriter grapples with the still-potent Southern California dream, its myths and metaphors, all with insightful wit, unsparing honesty, and conspicuous positivity.

From the percolating dancefloor groover, “Something To Simplify” and Schorr’s enchanting love letter to her “stoner daughter,” “My High Gummygirl,” to the happysad album-closer, “Short Hello and A Long Goodbye,” ALTAVAN resonates with grace, sophistication, nuance, and irony, calling to mind the emotional acuity and sharp eye of iconic LA chroniclers from Joan Didion and Eve Babitz to Joni Mitchell and The Beach Boys. Throughout, Schorr explores such deep-seated themes as the dichotomy of appearance (“Secret When You See One”), female power (“Her Perfume”), the struggle to communicate with others (“Words For Snow”), and the possibility of resolving emotional pain with logic and math (“Something To Simplify”).

“I’ve grown up in LA so I know a lot about privilege and ambition,” Schorr says. “About being blue when it’s sunny out. I’ve come to realize that archetypal LA dreams and sorrow, that’s who I am. I had my heart broken and stomped on by snooty rich girls in fifth grade so I learned early. Now I get to write about it.”

ALTAVAN is also a story of marriage, with “Simple Equation” and the cool sophisti-pop of “Terrible To Break” detailing “the struggles that you go through to make it work and the things you learn about love when you’ve been with someone for a while – you’ve been awful to each other and good to each other, in love and not in love, and how fragile a long relationship can be when you’re determined to sustain it.”

Schorr’s complex relationship with the City of Angels courses equally through the sound of ALTAVAN’s 10 songs, fusing sublime melodies, cutting-edge production a la that heard on the world famous KROQ, and the Laurel Canyon Sound’s heartfelt introspection and commitment to craft. Stacks of intricate harmonies and elegant melodies merge with increasingly complex arrangements and synth layers, transforming Schorr’s expertly limned songs into something immediately engaging, eminently danceable, and uniquely Blond In Car.

“My melodies can have a retro vibe but I don’t really want to make anything that doesn’t sound like it’s using the instruments of now,” Schorr says. “I want it to sound modern. I am super-pop, I am always looking for that hook that will make your insides hit a new gear.”

ALTAVAN stands as a testament to Robin Schorr’s passion, focus, and unwavering commitment to Blond In Car, its luxuriously crafted sound and vision heralding the arrival of a gifted new singer-songwriter and future diamonds still to come. Having discovered her purpose at last, Schorr is determined to drive herself and Blond In Car as far as she possibly can, with nary another moment to waste.

“It’s a miracle to me that I discovered that this is what I was made for,” says Robin Schorr. “To this day, I can’t believe that I was able to open up to that deepest fact about myself. I now realize I’ve been hearing songs in my head my whole life, but I pushed them away. Now I let them out.”