Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is the musical alias of American film school drop-out Owen Ashworth, who has been writing and recording pop albums under the moniker since 1997, when he realized that song-making was a far more cost-effective means of storytelling than film-making.
Early in his career, Ashworth defined a hybrid strain of raw, emotional, and very homemade synth pop that was instantly recognizable as his own. Claustrophobic two-minute character studies shuddered with reverbed beats, blown-out chords, and simple but infectous melodies, all layered beneath Ashworth's sometimes funny but always heartbreaking lyrics.
Most typically, Ashworth accompanies his vocal performances with the sounds of keyboards, drum machines, & other electronic devices, although recent releases have included more live instrumentation.