Race Knower - Tumbling Down

Released in 1984 on the small UK imprint Funkstick Music, Tumbling Down by Race Knower is one of those records that feels almost mythological in retrospect. Recorded privately in London during 1983–84, the album was the work of Sri Lankan-born musician Horace “Race” Knower, who had moved to the UK decades earlier and quietly continued writing and recording music while working various day jobs.

What emerged from those sessions was a remarkably personal and idiosyncratic record. With the help of collaborators John Cain and Robert Sheppley, Knower programmed drum machines, arranged guitars and bass, and built a collection of songs that drift between DIY soul, blues, machine-funk and melancholic pop.