Sometimes there are albums you discover that you just want to keep to yourself. A perfect example of this for me has been listening to Rose Melberg’s Cast Away The Clouds. I’ve been listening to it for the past two months as I happened to discover it quite late with it originally being released in April. That was the same month I started this blog and I had never even read blogs until that time so of course any album released around than had more then likely slipped by my radar. I figured since it was beginning to be so late in the year that there was really no point in talking about it here anymore, but the more that i’ve listened to it the more my appreciation for it grows. I really think discovering this incredible album much later has made it more prevalent at this moment as opposed to me listening to it in April and possibly completely forgetting about it by now. It’s slowly become one of my favorite albums of the year, possibly in my top three. I felt that I should say something about it here just because it would be foolish not mentioning it in some way at all.
For those who aren’t familiar with Rose Melberg, she’s actually been around the indie-pop scene for quite some time now. Being a member or founding member of Tiger Trap, Go Sailor and The Softies which is probably her most well-known project (in my opinion, since that’s how I was familiar with her). Most who’ve been reading the site know how much I love twee-pop, and Rose is almost like an icon of everything that embodies twee for me. Outside of that she’s released one solo recording, Portola, back in 1998 so it’s been a while between album releases.
I never listened to Portola unfortunately, but if there’s one similarity between her current solo release and her work with The Softies, it’s that uncanny ability of crafting songs of such melancholy heartache. On Cast Away The Clouds, it’s just taken to another level. Words can’t possibly describe how beautiful this album is to me. The songs at their core are so simple with only minimal instrumentation from piano, violin and acoustic guitar. It’s almost not needed as Rose’s angelic voice manages to evoke so much emotion along with her painfully honest lyrics. It’s almost exhausting for me to listen to.
I’m usually not one to bother with reading lyrics but this was one of the rare times that I actually cared to know what someone was actually singing about. When I first listened to “Take Some Time”, I was completely moved by it’s delicateness and simplicity. Taking a closer look at the lyrics though unearthed a song that was lovely to me at first but completely changed it to something that was bittersweet, almost heartbreaking.
Basically, if I wasn’t clear enough already, this album is full of gems. It’s one album that I don’t care about discovering late, but am just pleased that I wasn’t unfortunate enough to not even hear it at all. For those that have already heard it, don’t forget it come the end of the year but I understand if you’re one like me to keep something like this to yourselves.
Rose Melberg | “Take Some Time”
Rose Melberg | “Cold Sea”
Rose Melberg | “Irene”
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I picked-up this Rose Melberg album when it first came out. I was really excited about it! But you know what? I found it to be more than a bit disappointing. It’s actually kind of boring. I loved Tiger Trap and The Softies, but this record just didn’t click with me. Tracy & the Plastics will have to hold me over until the new Tullycraft record comes out I guess.