Rose
Melberg
Cast
Away the Clouds
( double
agent ) 2006
Rose Melberg has been my companion through many
a heartache - no one excels more at taking the pain that comes from
a broken heart (or just the growing pains and fluttery feelings that
often accompany that feeling called love/infatuation) and softening
it with beautifully summery, gauzy melodies and simple, never melodramatic,
and oh-so-identifiable lyrics. She's been down this road before, and
knows the territory so well, especially with her excellent first solo
effort, Portola,
and in her previous band (with Jen Sbragia), The Softies. (Please,
please make Holiday
In Rhode Island part of your humble music collection, if you
don't own it already.)
Cast Away the Clouds is Rose's first release since 1998's Portola,
and well worth the wait. Musically, it feels a little more cohesive
and focused than its predecessor. Filled with acoustic guitar and quiet
piano (and even some flute!), as well the occasional backing vocal,
the real focus of the album is Rose's voice (both lyrically and musically),
and what a gorgeous one it is. Her use of imagery--"Sit beside
me/Underneath this tree/I wish we could make a life/Beneath its canopy/Petals
float/Just like summer smoke/Every blossom is an apple/That will never
grow," from "The Orchard"-- finds the heartstrings
and burrows deep, and coupled with her soft, soothing, honest delivery,
the results are magical (please see album opener "Take Some Time,"
with its simple guitar melody joined with piano and warm vocal harmonies,
for example of said magic.)
It's said that time heals all wounds, but I'd reckon to say that
a good dose of Rose Melberg (and Cast Away the Clouds) might
speed the process along--a salve that can (and should) be applied directly
and repeated often.
[s]sssssshh
:: [May,
in 2006]
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