Rosali’s ‘Bite Down’ is an album that rocks a little harder and feels a little bolder. Reflecting her drive, determination and perseverance, she’s living each moment as fully as possible. This is one to savour…
Rosali’s new album, Bite Down, is an apt title for someone who’s clearly a firm believer in going all in. She’s not making big gestures for the sake of them but rather understanding that these days, the stakes require living each moment as fully as possible. The act of biting down fully informs this work, for, having moved from Philadelphia to North Carolina, she “resolved to bite down on the proverbial bullet; sink my teeth into the flesh and bone of being in the world, devouring the obstacles in my path and gloriously savoring all that is on offer – good and bad. Give me another serving, another moment, another challenge, give me another chance to meet life with insatiable hunger.”
That insatiable hunger can be felt throughout the music of Bite Down. The bass of David Nance and the drums of Kevin Donahue’s push On Tonight with a tougher feel than 2021’s No Medium. While Rosali Middleman’s voice rings through with a different feel, there is a sense that she is a stronger and more committed individual. She pushes the music in different directions, the lyrics written from the point of view of Eve seducing the snake. There is a lust for life; she’s looking to know more and live more, experiencing the good and bad because knowledge opens one’s eyes to deeper meanings and understandings.
Rocking unreservedly, Slow Pain builds force with every note. James Schroeder’s guitar leads the charge, while Donahue’s drums keep building and pushing the song forward. When Rosali sings, “There’s a feeling you don’t like me/ Really you don’t like me,” there’s no sense of anger or resentment. This is just the current state of affairs, and clearly, she has grown beyond it; it’s time to move on, a sentiment signalled by the guitar solo finale that positively burns.
There’s nothing quite like Hills on Fire, where the electric guitar smoulders and burns from the first note to the last; a slow-burning epic. Singing “Hills on fire and still we climb,” the realization hits that while the song is moody, the emotions mean it couldn’t be any other way. My Kind cranks up the pace, making it perfectly clear that “You are my kind/ You are my kind/ I don’t want to live without you/I’m not gonna live without you.” The song breaks down and rebuilds with unforced ferocity.
Bite Down is the undeniable statement of someone finding a world that both frustrates and fascinates, yet Rosali takes both in her stride, savouring the good and bad, devouring the obstacles along the way. The American author and poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox said, “There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.” That sentiment underpins Bite Down, an album born of determination and perseverance. In Rosali’s own empowering words, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, everything has a price — energetically speaking — we are responsible for each other and for all living things.”
This is one to savour, an album that you’ll keep returning to.