Blue Roses - Blue Roses - 2009 - DV8 torrent

Artist: Blue Roses
Title: Blue Roses
Label: Salvia / XL
Genre: Folk
Bitrate: 152kbit av.
Time: 00:45:11
Size: 52.67 mb


1. Greatest Thoughts 4:02
2. Cover Your Tracks 5:00
3. I Am Leaving 3:26
4. Can't Sleep 5:17
5. I Wish I... 6:53
6. Coast 4:06
7. Does Anyone Love Me Now? 4:08
8. Doubtful Comforts 4:09
9. Rebecca 4:20
10. Imaginary Fights 3:50

Release Notes:

Blue Roses, the pseudonym Laura Groves chose to represent the
ramshackle group of musicians that play on this, her debut, is
an odd choice when you consider that actual blue roses can
only be made by artificial means.

No actual blue rose exists in nature at all and to create one
you need to use genetic engineering and all sorts of modern
technology. It's odd then that Blue Roses the album sounds
seemingly untouched by anything approaching modern
experimentation, with delicate instrumentation (mainly
acoustic) and fragile melodies creeping slowly out of the
speakers.

In a music industry where background and context are poured
over as much as the music itself, it's worth noting that Blue
Roses appear unencumbered by tales of, for example, recording
in the woods for months following the demise of a
relationship, nor do they emerge blinking in the light of
unimaginable hype. Rather, the tale is simple; bored
songwriter from Yorkshire borrows guitar, writes some songs,
ropes in some friends to help and records in kitchens,
bedrooms and bathrooms across the north.

Such a simple and relaxed gestation is obvious throughout the
10 songs. Opener Greatest Thoughts is a delicate piano-lead
tale of being left alone, its undulating tempo and melody
reminiscent of Joanna Newsom at her most wordy. Like Newsom,
Groves has a voice that seems to sweep from hushed and
touching to high-pitched and almost shrill at the drop of a
hat.

In the main she uses it to wonderful effect, creating
swirling, almost operatic backing vocals on Cover Your Tracks
and when the choir of voices arrives in highlight Does Anyone
Love Me Now? it's simply beautiful. Only on a few occasions
does the voice grate and at the beginning of Cover Your Tracks
she sounds not unlike a young Aled Jones limbering up for
another crack at The Snowman theme, Walking In The Air.

Musically the album centres on the acoustic guitar, but there
are numerous embellishments that arrive as unexpectedly as a
warm breeze. I Am Leaving features shuffling percussion,
fingerpicked guitar and, surprisingly, a fuzzed-up keyboard
riff that coalesces with a multi-tracked choir of background
singers. Debut single Doubtful Comforts is built solely around
a kalimba, a kind of thumb piano, whilst the PJ Harvey-esque
Rebecca strips away the excess to reveal a crudely played
electric guitar and a relentless bass drum.

Blue Roses is a startling debut, a record that oozes warmth
and charm whilst revealing itself slowly and patiently. It's
the kind of album that you'll want to recommend and that suits
a word-of-mouth popularity. It's a hushed secret or a haunting
presence, not something that sings its own praises or gives a
knowing wink every time an obvious influence flashes by. It
may not be an album that expects to be sat near the top of
lists come the year's end, but Laura Groves and Blue Roses
need to be prepared for that eventuality.