Robin Daniel Skinner (born ), known professionally as Cavetown (sometimes stylised in all lowercase), is an English singer-songwriter, record producer, and YouTuber. His style blends elements of indie rock, indie pop, and bedroom pop with mellow, gentle ukulele and guitar ballads.
, he had amassed over 7 million streams on Amazon Music and 4.6 million monthly streamers on Spotify. , his YouTube channel, which he began in November 2012, sits at 2.26 million subscribers and over 612 million video views. Skinner released his sixth studio album, Running with Scissors, in January 2026.
Early life Skinner was born in Oxford, England, on 15 December 1998. His interest in music was inspired by his father, David Skinner, a musicologist and choir director, who taught him how to play the acoustic guitar at the age of eight. His mother is a professional Baroque flautist and music teacher. He was raised in Cambridge and attended Parkside Community College from 2010 to 2015 and Hills Road Sixth Form College until 2017.
Career 2012–2015: YouTube and Bandcamp Skinner began his YouTube channel in November 2012 and uploaded his first video, an original song named "Haunted Lullaby", in October 2013. Soon after, Skinner began releasing music to Bandcamp with his first album, Everything Is Made of Clouds, at the age of 14. He released Gd Vibes, Nervous Friends // Pt. 1, Balance (as brother) and Everything is Made of Stars on Bandcamp over the following two years. Critics expressed that he felt "the acceptance of ignorance" on Gd Vibes. Skinner released his debut single "This is Home" in August 2015, before releasing his debut self-titled album in November 2015. Critics described the album Cavetown as "an eclectic mix of acoustic and electronic". Skinner continued to publish covers of songs onto his YouTube channel from artists such as Pinegrove, Twenty One Pilots and Joji.
2016–2018: 16/04/16 and Lemon Boy In 2016, Skinner released his second studio album, 16/04/16. The album includes a mix of "warm, melodic bedroom pop" and "lo-fi indie rock". The album was dedicated to his childhood friend, Jack Graham, who died of leukaemia on the album's titular date. 60% of the album's proceeds were donated to Cancer Research UK.
In January 2018, he released his third album, Lemon Boy. In June later that year, he released the EP, Dear.
2019–2021: Animal Kingdom, Sleepyhead and Man's Best Friend
In 2019, Skinner released five split singles which were later compiled into Animal Kingdom, a mixtape of ten tracks including covers and original singles with guest appearances from Sidney Gish, Simi, and Chloe Moriondo.
He signed under Sire Records in 2019 where he released the single "Telescope" ahead of his upcoming album, later announced as Sleepyhead. That same year, he also released the concert album Live at Hoxton Hall.
Skinner embarked on a series of sold-out worldwide headlining tours in October 2019 in support of Sleepyhead. He was joined by Hunny and Mxmtoon for a few shows in the UK tour, as well as Field Medic and Chloe Moriondo for a few shows in the US tour. In October 2019, Skinner announced his headlining tour along Australia's east coast, which took place in January 2020, where he was accompanied by Spookyghostboy.
In 2020, Skinner released his major label debut album Sleepyhead. He cancelled the tour in support of Sleepyhead due to the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020. In July 2020, Skinner collaborated with Tessa Violet on the single "Smoke Signals" and announced the launch of his unisex clothing line Cave Collective.
In 2021, he released the extended play Man's Best Friend. Sahar Ghadirian of Clash gave the EP a positive review, describing it as "wistfully compelling, providing comfort in a uniquely fuzzy way".
2022–present: Worm Food, Little Vice and Running with Scissors
In 2022, Skinner released the album Worm Food to positive reviews from critics. Rachel Min Leong of Clash praised Worm Food for bringing "new depths" to Skinner's "disarming, raw sincerity". Similarly, Ali Shutler of NME wrote positively of Worm Foods "raw honesty, understanding and self-empowerment" and described the album as "[Skinner's] most fully-realised yet". Worm Food features guests such as Pierce the Veil, Beabadoobee, and Chloe Moriondo. Around the same time, Skinner announced the This Is Home Project, a foundation which will donate to various charities supporting young LGBT+ people.
In 2024, Skinner released the extended play Little Vice. In June 2024, he returned to Bandcamp to release a cover of "My Love Mine All Mine" by Mitski. Skinner later released multiple collaborative singles, including "magic 8 ball" with artist Frankie Cosmos, in advance of his 2024-2025 tour with Mother Mother. In December 2024, Skinner released an extended play consisting of lofi versions of some of his songs.
In March 2025, Skinner released an extended play of covers, including his previous cover of "My Love Mine All Mine", titled Songs I Like in 2025.
On 16 January 2026, Cavetown released his sixth studio album, Running with Scissors. He released several singles ("Baby Spoon", "Rainbow Gal", "Tarmac", and "NPC") from the album in the latter half of 2025, as well as "Sailboat" in January 2026 in collaboration with Chloe Moriondo. This was Skinner's first release with Futures Music Group, a joint venture between Neon Gold and Avenue A Records, which formed in 2024. The album's release is being followed by a world tour.
Personal life Skinner has stated that he is on both the aromantic and asexual spectrums. He came out as transgender in September 2020. His pronouns are he/they. Skinner lives in New York City with his girlfriend as of 2025. Skinner also has ADHD.
Discography Studio albums Title Album details Peak chart positions UK UKIndie SCO USSales USHeat USFolk Cavetown Released: 9 November 2015 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download, streaming, vinyl — — — — — — 16/04/16 Released: 15 August 2016 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download, streaming, vinyl — — — — — — Lemon Boy Released: 1 January 2018 Label: Self-released Format: CD, digital download, streaming, vinyl — — — — — — Sleepyhead Released: 27 March 2020 Label: Sire Records Format: CD, cassette, digital download, streaming, vinyl 52 — 7 53 12 16 Worm Food Released: 4 November 2022 Label: Sire Records Format: CD, cassette, digital download, streaming, vinyl 39 — 8 86 — — Running with Scissors Released: 16 January 2026 Label: Futures Music Group Format: CD, cassette, digital download, streaming, vinyl 94 4 19 — — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Extended plays Title Details Peak chart positions UKPhys. USHeat.ENC Dear. Released: 29 June 2018 Label: Triple Crown Records Format: CD, digital download, streaming, vinyl 7 6 Man's Best Friend Released: 4 June 2021 Label: Sire Records Format: Digital download, streaming, vinyl — — Little Vice Released: 23 February 2024 Label: Sire Records Format: Digital download, streaming, vinyl — — SONGS I LIKE IN 2025 Released: 30 April 2025 Label: Self-released Format: Digital Download, streaming, vinyl——
Mixtapes Title Details Animal Kingdom Released: 12 April 2019 Label: Oat Milk Formats: Digital download, streaming, CD, vinyl
Singles
As lead artist + List of other charted and certified songs Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album UKPhys. UKIndieBrk. JPNOver. NZHot"Devil Town"2015 — 17 — — BPI: Silver RIAA: Platinum RMNZ: Gold"This Is Home" — — — — BPI: Silver RIAA: Platinum RMNZ: Gold"Lemon Boy"2018 — — — — RIAA: GoldLemon Boy"Just Add Water" — — — —Dear."Juliet" — — — — RIAA: Gold RMNZ: GoldAnimal Kingdom: Sandy"Boys Will Be Bugs" — — — — BPI: Silver RIAA: Platinum RMNZ: GoldAnimal Kingdom: Comet"Advice"2019 — — — —Animal Kingdom: Ash"Self Control" — — — —Animal Kingdom: Shells"Hug All Ur Friends" — — — —Animal Kingdom: Jackson"Home" 35 — — — RIAA: Gold"Feb 14" — — — —"Telescope" — — — —"Things That Make It Warm" — — — —"You've Got a Friend in Me" (Randy Newman cover) — — — —"Sweet Tooth"2020 — — — —"I Miss My Mum" — — — —"Smoke Signals" — — — —"Sharpener" — — — —Man's Best Friend"Sharpener's Calling Me Again" 2021 — — — —"Paul" (Big Thief cover) — — — —Man's Best Friend"Ur Gonna Wish U Believed Me" — — — —"Teenage Dirtbag" — — — —"Squares"2022 — — — —"Y 13" — — — —"Fall in Love with a Girl" — — — —Worm Food"Fall in Love with a Girl" "Fall in Love with a Girl". Spotify. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2024. — — — —rowspan="2" "Grocery Store" — — — —"1994" — — — —Worm Food"Frog" — — — —"Del Mar County Fair 2008" (Underscores cover)2023 — — — — "Glacier Meadow" — — — —"Let Them Know They're on Your Mind"2024 — — — —"Let Them Know They're on Your Mind" (acoustic) — — — —"Baby Spoon"2025 — — — —Running with Scissors"Rainbow Gal" — — — —"Tarmac" — — — —"NPC" — — 7 —"Sailboat" 2026 — — — 23"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
As featured artist YearTitleAlbum/EP2018"Devil Town"Devinyl Splits No. 112020"Is Your Bedroom Ceiling Bored?" rowspan="5" "Lemons""Was It Something I Said"(with Mykey)2021"Struck by Lighting""Trying Not to Cry"(with Kina)2024"Didn't"(with Illuminati Hotties)Power"Dirty Devil Town"(with Mother Mother)
Other certified songs YearTitleCertificationsAlbum/EP2018"Fool" RIAA: PlatinumLemon Boy
Bandcamp releases as Cavetown Everything Is Made of Clouds (2013) Gd Vibes (2014) Covers (2015) Youtube Covers (2015) Nervous Friends // Pt. 1 (2015) Everything Is Made of Stars (2015) as brother balance (2015) not anywhere (alex g cover) (2018) bny rabit (2018) i want to meet your dog (2018) Hate (2019)
Awards and nominations +Award CeremonyYearNominated workCategoryResultBerlin Music Video Awards2020GreenBest NarrativeNominated
Notes
References
External links
Official website Cavetown on Twitter