Rosali - Bite Down - Import CD

Credits:

Rosali

Description:

With her fourth solo album Bite Down, singer/songwriter Rosali offers the best examples yet of her peculiar ability to craft songs that sound uncannily at peace as they explode, and to sing about time-halting vulnerabilities in a calm, almost relaxed voice. Rosali Middlemans winding musical output up to this point could account for some of the Zen flow state she exhibits here. While her solo albums have largely been thoughtful, rustic folk-rock with plenty of electrified decorations, shes been adding experimental elements since she began making music. This has happened with her side projects, like the meditative psychedelia of Monocot; by releasing her first record on the famously abrasive noise label Siltbreeze; and by incorporating improvisation and out sounds into her songwriting process. The ten songs that make up Bite Down are some of the best of Rosalis career, and are also some of the clearest, relegating her inherent rough-edged style in favor of high-powered instrumental performances that get a little weird but keep the greater strengths of the songwriting as the central focus. "Rewind" saunters with the dusty charm of Neil Youngs most restrained moments with Crazy Horse, rocking along joyfully as lyrics of uneasiness and uncertainty guide the song. Its one of many moments on the album marked by gentle freakouts, as her backing band Mowed Sound (a crew of tight players who split their time working with several out-there rootsy acts in Rosalis orbit) lets the song build to a rolling boil of triumphant drums, dual backwards guitar solos, and layers of golden noise that never completely overwhelm the song. The captivating melodic character of "On Tonight" is supported by subtle oozy synth pads, and the bounding "Slow Pain" feels like relatively straightforward pop until a lengthy, sun-dazzled guitar solo comes out of nowhere. Playing thats dynamic and controlled allows ample room for Rosalis emotional currents to come to the fore. This ranges from the plainly spoken ungrounded feeling of the smooth and minimal title track to a weary angst on the tense rocker "Change Is in the Form" to soft-hearted benevolence on the pastoral closing track "May It Be on Offer." The songs that make up Bite Down are assemblages of simple beauty and direct articulations of complex emotions. Even more than any music that came before it, this album highlights Rosalis unique voice, one that communicates full-hearted intensity without ever resorting to heavy-handedness or overstatement. ~ Fred Thomas

Tracklisting:

1.On Tonight
2.Rewind
3.Hills on Fire
4.My Kind
5.Bite Down
6.Hopeless
7.Slow Pain
8.Is It Too Late
9.Change Is in the Form
10.May It Be on Offer