Rozi Plain – What a Boost
Memphis Industries – 5 April 2019
Rozi Plain haunts a musical landscape somewhere between jazz, folk ambient and pop. Her songs shift and shuffle, built up in layers that are by turns discordant and strange. But they often come to rest in a perfect pop moment. There are enough hooks to keep more casual listeners grooving, but under the surface are experimental textures to please the audiophiles.
What a Boost is Rozi’s fourth album (not counting a collection of remixes) and it is her most focussed, offering the listener a complete audio journey. ‘I feel like you do a lot of looking back,’ she says, ‘looking forward, looking at your life, and looking out of the window.’
And it is that sense of stillness that pervades the album, with Rozi’s quiet-but-compelling vocals at the centre. Around this swirls an array of guest musicians, including fellow This Is The Kit band member Kate Stables, Jamie Whitby Coles and Neil Smith. Each plays their part to enhance the beguiling soundscapes.
This is a musical exploration featuring many creatives, as the album credits testify. Jamie Whitby Coles co-produces, and collaborators include Sam Amidon, Rachel Horwood (Bas Jan, Trash Kit), Joel Wästberg a.k.a. sir Was, Raphael Desmarets, Yoshino Shigihara (Zun Zun Egui, Yama Warashi) and Dan Leavers from The Comet Is Coming. But each of them contributes sympathetically to Rozi’s artistic vision.
The opening track, Inner Circle, gently fades in like waking from a slumber and over a languorous clockwork drum-and-guitar intro, various textures are added – a swell of sax, a loop of electric guitar – until Rozi’s unmistakable vocals debut. It all culminates in a sonic swirl before the next song, Swing Shut, strides in.
The second track, Swing Shut (which premiered on Folk Radio), is the most poppy and melodically accessible here – a potential crossover single perhaps. With the right remix, it certainly could be danceable. But, as with the best of Rozi’s work, it is both catchy and elegant, whistleable but sophisticated. This is pop for grown-ups, anthems for introverts.
Symmetrical is another stand-out. On first listening, it’s hard to pin down the meandering tune. But pretty soon if grips with its bewitching melody and instrumental asides which sound like they’ve been mined from a forgotten eastern-European sci-fi film.
The Gap builds from looping guitar and voice into a cavalcade of synth/vocal stings, hand claps and multitracked vocals. Old Money is more laid-back, like a British response to Lambchop’s Is A Woman, but with a more radiophonic vibe. In contrast, Conditions is approaching straightforward pop but with Rozi’s vocal offering an austere counterpoint to the melodic backing.
The aptly-titled Dark Park is more foreboding, built on drone-like synths and guitar, it soon bursts into glorious life, before resting back in the gloom, then looping back and back again. Trouble is quirky pop with a side-order of skewed easy listening, at its core is a vocal duet with Rozi matched by Kate Stables, building to a jagged electric guitar coda.
The penultimate track, Quiz, is a gentle interlude with muted electronica, evoking the BBC Radiophonic Workshop once again, like a reworked telefantasy score from Paddy Kingsland. In contrast Where There Is No Sun is an epic closer, building on the themes of the album, mournful yet beautiful, solemn yet satisfying.
What a Boost is a creative high (so far) for Rozi Plain, so let’s hope this subtle-but-stunning album gives her the boost she so richly deserves.
Out on April 5th, order it here – http://smarturl.it/whataboost
You can catch Rozi and her band boosting around the UK on these dates below:
Rozi Plain Live Dates
24th April 2019, Brighton, Hope and Ruin
25th April 2019, Bristol, Southbank Club SOLD OUT
26th April 2019, Northampton, The Black Prince
27th April 2019, Reading, Are You Listening Festival
28th April 2019, Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
2nd May 2019, Manchester, YES
3rd May 2019, Glasgow, Blue Arrow
5th May 2019, Leicester, Handmade Festival
6th May 2019, Bath, Komedia
7th May 2019, London, Oslo Hackney
29 Aug – 1 Sep, Larmer Tree Gardens, End of the Road Festival