Rosali

It’s great to see bands and artists you love make good and few are more deserving of the praise and spotlight than Rosali. Middleman’s last album found her connecting with fellow RSTB fave David Nance and his band Mowed Sound. The band returns for her Merge debut, Bite Down, an album that tempers just a bit of the burn that washed down with No Medium, but packs just as much emotional heft. Nance and co. back Rosali with the tightness of Crazy Horse and the caress of Yo La Tengo. The last record, with Mowed Sound behind her, turned a corner for Rosali. Her sound progressed from solo singer-songwriter to something more visceral, something that sticks like a thorn in the palm of the listener. Her songs bring a drop of blood, a flash of pain, it’s a release that’s as necessary as it is cathartic.

The record’s themes of embracing life in the face of apathy resonate in an age when its hard to crawl out of bed knowing the societal horrors that await. Yet, there’s joy and an air of confidence about Bite Down. It’s a shaking off of the anxieties of No Medium. Middleman is at her best here, assured, acidic, a gleam in her eye that’s knowing and natural. The band burns through her songs, turning riffs and rumination into the kind of songs that scar the soul. The temper swings from soft, forgiving moments on “Is It Too Late,” or “Rewind” to searing, seething auras on “Change Is The Form” and “My Kind.” She captures some of her best pop moments as well, with the buoyancy balancing the brimstone on “Hills On Fire,” and “Hopeless.” This album brings Rosali into the sun for so many. The bump to Merge raises her to a larger profile and it feels like a record that will only build its reputation with age, a classic in the making.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.