New Music: Rosie Lowe - Pharoah

For the first forty-five seconds of Rosie Lowe’s new single Pharoah you could easily be forgiven for thinking that her evil guitarist had secretly locked himself in the recording studio, flicked all the recording switches on and was preparing to have a self-indulgent jam session whilst nobody was around. Thankfully it doesn’t last long. Then BOOM, a big saucy bass bruises the ears in a most delightful way and we’re slipping off down to slow groove funkytown, with Rosie celebrating her strength:  “Power in my arms, power in my legs, power in my mind , power in my imperfections that make me, a power in my knowledge, power in the magic I do.” From this we can perhaps deduce that Rosie is a member of the magic circle and will soon be doing some David Blaine or Houdinni like tricks for us all when she's bored with the music. 

Then there’s the video. There’s probably some deep meaning here, but frankly it’s late at night and I have absolutely no idea what I’ve just watched. Your suggestions and answers on a postcard please (for the old people) and via Twitter (for the middle aged) and via Snapchat (for the young ‘uns) for what it all means / is about. 

More oddness abounds where, at the time of writing, Pharoah isn't on Spotify, so no New Music Friday positioning for Rosie at the moment, which is a shame. For this deserves to be heard in as many places as possible.

Update: A few hours after I posted this piece the video was taken down from Rosie's channel. This might explain the oddness described above - it looks like there was some sort of upload timing error. No doubt it will be back. Until then you'll just have to imagine what it might have been.

Update 3rd April: It's back online.

Rosie Lowe - Pharoah

New Music: Rosie Lowe - Birdsong

The last time I mentioned Rosie Lowe on Breaking More Waves (in 2014) it was in connection with dropping a cigarette butt in Leeds and how that can get you a £50 fine. Since that time Rosie released her debut album Control (in 2016) and is now gearing up for album number 2 which is entitled YU (I guess there’s a double meaning in the title depending on if you say the letters as a word or individual letters?). From it comes this single Birdsong which is not at all rubbish – so clearly she’s become a bit more litter conscious since the cigarette butt incident.

Alas Birdsong is not a tribute to my very own DJ Birdsong ambient project (taking bookings for 2019 if anyone would like a man in bird mask playing gentle calming electronic music mixed with birdsong – it is if nothing else a very relaxing experience) but instead she describes it as being inspired by "lust and desire, but with the lingering sense of insecurity and longing.”

The track was produced by The Invisible’s Dave Okumu and comes accompanied by a video directed by Jovan Todorovic. It’s a slinky piece of spacey funk that grinds and grooves in a similar way to some of Nao’s work with Rosie’s voice giving the song a half creepy half sensual feel and the multi-track  male group vocals adding to that steamy atmosphere even more.

This one’s on fire. And that fire is funky.

Rosie Lowe plays Guildford Boileroom on 10th March (where tickets are a snip at £3.80) and London's Omeara on 14th March (where they are quite a bit more).

Rosie Lowe - Birdsong 

The Great Escape Festival 2014 - Review (Part 1)

Whereas other festival promoters claim that their events are not just about the music, Brighton’s Great Escape USP is that it’s all about that and nothing else - and its lifeblood is the new and upcoming. There’s no literature or cinema tent here. There are no lifestyle workshops. There are certainly no fire breathers, circus acts, jugglers or comedians. There’s just musicians, a hell of lot of them, so many in fact that the choices can become almost overwhelming, unless you’ve done your homework.

This is how Great Escape has changed over the 9 years of its existence. In the past the festival may have been about discovery, taking a punt on a couple of bands you’ve heard name checked and rocking up to watch them. Now with the availability of streaming, multiple playlists, You Tube, well designed advance timetables and the festival’s own app, it’s possible to arrive in Brighton fully clued up; the only discovery being can the artists you’ve planned to see cut it live compared to the recordings you’ve listened to at home, discovering that they’ve cancelled last minute due to illness and discovering if you have the stamina to endure 3 days of non-stop live music (and possibly a beer or two).

So with a military like plan and spreadsheet in hand Breaking More Waves was leading the charge to see as many bands as humanly possible. Over the next three days we’ll be filing our report on what we learnt at this year’s event, starting right now. 

10 Things We Learnt At The Great Escape Festival, Brighton 2014 (Part 1 – Wednesday /Thursday)

1. It’s not just about the evening shows.

When we first started attending Great Escape in its second year there were hardly any daytime shows available and what there were consisted of relatively low quality gigs that were given very little attention or promotion. In 2014, even on the comparatively quiet first day, there was a total of 19 participating venues (including the Alt Escape shows, an official series of showcases that take place alongside the core festival programme) giving a choice of over 80 acts to go and see and the quality was high. By mid-afternoon we’d witnessed near Beyoncé like booty shaking and indie power pop from Ballet School, the slick synth-pop of Claire, and the soothing melancholy rock-pop with a hint of Fleetwood Mac from The Night VI – all highly agreeable.

2. Scandinavia is winning.

Of course we already knew this, but Great Escape just confirmed it. 

Swedish singer Tove Lo provided one of the euphoric highlights of the day with pop that was a little bit sharp and bad girl but still highly accessible – falling somewhere in between Mo / Charli XCX sharpness and the more mainstream of the likes of Katy Perry. It was pop done as pop should be done. Add to that Norway’s Emilie Nicolas, who played her first UK show; a pop star in the shadows that was so tiny that her song Grown Up took on all sorts of new connotations once you’ve seen her live. And finally another Swede, Alice Boman, a singer who created audience silencing, spine-tingling, fragile emotional songs of beauty at the Dome Studio stage. They’ll probably go and be victorious at Eurovision again this weekend just to confirm their prowess at all things music.

3. Some musicians could do with being paid a bit more so that they can buy some new clothes (1).

Wide-eyed and breezy synth pop and flute playing lass Pawws played in what look like a second hand Yes tour t-shirt. 

4. Some musicians could do with being paid a bit more so that they can buy some new clothes (2)

Tove Lo performed in badly ripped tights and very ‘worn in’ looking DM boots.

5. Some musicians could do with being paid a bit more so that they can buy some new clothes (3)

The lead singer of Ballet School wore a grey sweatshirt, yes a grey sweatshirt. We can’t imagine Lady Gaga doing that. But then maybe that’s the point. It's a music festival not a fashion shoot. But still, music lovers, please give these people your money and let them get some nice new shiny clobber. 

Mind you, all credit to Rosie Lowe for appearing in what looked like a white PVC skirt and Laurel for serenading the audience with her dramatic Lana Del Rey like cello backed pop in what we can only describe as a black goth tennis dress.

6. When going to Great Escape take a handkerchief.

We forgot and on two occasions were moved close to (or indeed actually moved to) tears. Our first moment was by the way of Eva Stone who despite suffering from tonsillitis sang songs that sounded so poignant, so powerfully bare, with a versatility that was breath-taking that she left us feeling on the edge of something infinitely sad but beautiful at the same time. Then Alice Boman finished us off later, and we left her show with a feeling of stillness and calm as if every ounce of emotion had been drained from us. It showed how bloody powerful music can be at its best.

7. The early bird gets the Cornish pasty.

Although the Great Escape doesn’t start properly until Thursday a number of low key shows are arranged for Wednesday evening to get early arrivals and locals warmed up. Our first port of call was to the SEXSW gig, which is nothing to do with sex, nor is to do with Austin’s SXSW festival (although apparently SXSW festival lawyers had been in touch with the promoters) but all to do with bands from Brighton (South East) and Cornwall (South West). There we caught the vocal harmonising rock-pop five piece Garden Heart, but more importantly, the first fifty people through the door got a free Cornish Pasty, showing that there really are a multitude of advantages (OK, at least 1) for turning up early at a gig.

8. Tove Lo’s drummer was on fire.

He really was. We saw smoke coming out of his head. We were concerned for his health and safety – was he going to spontaneously combust with the hot pop brilliance? Or maybe it was just a smoke machine playing tricks on us.

9. Being a festival that is ‘just about the music’ means a very low level of twats in the audience.

The way festivals are now sold to the public means that unfortunately, particularly at the larger events, there tends to be a reasonably high percentage of audience members whose main objectives are to have an ‘experience’ and get off their faces, appearing to not give a shit about the music or the people around them – it’s just a soundtrack to getting fucked. Thankfully the audiences we experienced at Great Escape really seemed to care and appreciate it. For example Alice Bowman’s show was a late night one, there had almost inevitably been a lot of alcohol consumed, yet the audience gave Alice the attention the music deserved, standing in silence to listen. 

10. If you drop a cigarette butt in Leeds, expect a £50 fine.

OK, we know the Great Escape is in Brighton, but we learnt this fact during Rosie Lowe’s smooth, chilled, late night soulful performance. Not from her songs but her in between banter. Possibly the most important fact we learnt during the day?

Bands seen on Wednesday / Thursday: Garden Heart, Jeremy Neal, Ballet School, Vimes, Claire, The Night VI, Sam Fender, Eva Stone, Laurel, Emilie Nicolas, Tove Lo, Pawws, Rosie Lowe, Alice Boman

Number Of Artists Full Performances Seen In Total: 14

Number Of Hours Sleep: 5 hours

Fatigue Factor: Still wide awake

Other music bloggers bumped into at random: 4

Hugs from bands / artists: 2

We’ll be back tomorrow with 10 more things we learnt from Friday’s Great Escape. Here’s one of our highlights of yesterday.

Alice Boman - Over

Rosie Lowe - Right Thing

If Sade got together with Portishead late at night somewhere in a smoke-stained purple velvet lined recording studio, the results might well be something to akin to Right Thing, the second spaciously inviting track to be revealed from Rosie Lowe’s debut EP of the same name. It’s lovely downtempo stuff with Rosie singing about how she feels a bit of a fool for letting a beautiful ex-lover go. Come on Rosie, plenty more fish in the sea etc.

The EP which was produced by Kwes and Dave Okumu (of The Invisible) is released on December 2nd via 37 Adventures on both 12” and digital download. The black and white video to the song was directed by Kieran Gallear better known as Ninja Tunes artist DELS. Rosie will be playing a small number of shows over the coming months, including Birthdays in London on December 3rd.

Rosie Lowe - Right Thing

Rosie Lowe - New Waves

Devon’s Rosie Lowe has been bubbling under this year, originally with 3 songs (River, 10 Thousand Ballooons and Sinking Sand) on her Soundcloud, (they have now all now been removed) as well as providing guest vocals on Lil Silva’s deep house tune No Doubt this summer. However, a new track appeared today and so we feel it’s time to introduce Rosie to readers of Breaking More Waves.

Me & Your Ghost is very of the moment stuff. With looped spooked out noises, solemn piano and beats that sound like someone is pressing buttons at random, Me & Your Ghost is by no means a straightforward pop song, but in some ways it still is pop as it sounds very of the moment. It probably sits in the more out there territory of an avant-garde pop artist like Bjork , particularly in terms of its unusual use of beats. The comparisons with Laura Mvula, The XX, Jessie Ware or Sade that have been lobbed her way may be difficult to hear at this moment, but give it some time and more will become clear. 

Me & Your Ghost is taken from Rosie’s forthcoming EP Right Thing due on December 2 which she worked on with Kwes and Dave Okumu of The Invisible. 

Rosie Lowe - Me & Your Ghost