Byla Rose – How Far
Independent – 5 March 2021
Byla Rose is the professional name of Julia Rose Cummings, abetted by Tom Waits rhythm section veterans Larry Taylor and Stephen Hodges. How Far, her 5-track EP, marks the LA-based singer-songwriter’s debut which kicks off with the What Water Does, a simple folk-rock shuffle with a touch of easy-rolling Sheryl Crow about contemplating where life might take you and, basically, going with the flow and finding your own level.
One of her earliest compositions, the roots West Coast mid-paced swagger title track, a road song of sorts, echoes a similar theme as she sings “How far do you have to go before you realize you never left home?” while A Secret, a slow march, pulsing ballad coloured by shimmering steel is a confessional (“I’ve got this burden I may finally lay it down/It’s like a rock in my pocket helping me drown”) searching for release. Delivered with a husked smokiness to her voice, it’s a wonderful melancholic number.
With its brisk walking beat, Time is a more musically upbeat cut even if the lyrics are about the ultimate inevitability (“it doesn’t matter if you’re rich or if you’re slumming/Death is on his way”) and a carpe diem message about how you should not let the moment slip you by and “seize this evening in a tight fist”.
It ends with the Waitsean bluesy lurch of Last Call with its upright bass throb, metallic guitar strobe flashes and breathily seductive barroom come on lyrics (“you know a lonely girl knows all the words to jukebox tunes/Another beer or two I may fall off my stool/That’s why I’m asking you – I beseech/Please be my sugar daddy/I want to be your nothing at all”), a sign off that leaves you wanting much more.
An intoxicating calling card drenched with thrilling potential for things yet to come, on the opening track she sings “What do you want to be when you grow up? A writer a waiter or a cop? Or a car dealer? Or a cheerleader? I want to be something simple enough”. She’s definitely made the right choice.