Words by Lady Godiva
Shangri-La : a remote beautiful imaginary place where life approaches perfection.
Sheffield based Rose Love (Sister Wives) lets us into her own shangri-la, as a sassy northern lass. A parallel universe where this modern Alice in Wonderland glides in technicolor portals, encompassing psych, pop and glam. These different realms fit into each other with no discrepancy, Over & Over ultimately making a full rainbow.
“Parallel” throws you into the abyss straight away with its catchy rhythm, giving off early Broadcast vibes. Love’s vocals are delightful, strong yet ambrosial and match the energy of the number. In the same vein but a notch more up tempo, “Father’s Daughter” gets your party mood going tenfold with its electro vibrations and edge. The singer-songwriter makes a quirky reference to her other band as the bass player for Sister Wives here.
If a video for this tune was to be envisioned, it would be a sequence from the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy Gale enters another dimension through the tornado. This is indeed a vortex of a fairy tale Rose is making her way through and when she reaches the other side, she graces us with a transformative version of Fleetwood Mac‘s “Dragonfly”.
Whilst paying her respect and keeping its meditative side, she turns the song into a baroque, trip hop laced and acid folk elegiac gem. This dreamscape instantly changes the visual canvas halfway through the EP and while the first two songs resonated with a modern city energy, “Dragonfly” instills a softer, truly pastoral vibes that haunts you and feels like a soothing walk in a garden full of roses but in this rendition, it would appear that the king of flies’s opal crown (as mentioned in the lyrics) is now worn by Rose Love. She is the queen who unwittingly alters the narrative with her flair. Her nifty vocal range is a custom ornament to the melody.
Last but not least, “The Scandal” initially covers its tracks with a mysterious intro spiralling into another dominion before the Yorkshire lass lets her riot grrrl flag fly. These songs were written over a difficult period of time but Love morphed her troubles into a flamboyant and multi-faceted statement EP.
Over & Over was released 28th April on new Sheffield label, Redundant Span Records
