Customer Reviews

Cast Away the Clouds

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The way Rose Melberg writes and records her songs must be a deep, slow, delicate process. On almost every song of this second solo album (Rose took part of previous bands such as Tiger Trap and The Softies during the 90's), she does a little miracle, being endlessly delicate without falling into cutesy (that she didn't always avoid in the past with the Softies). Her songs appear to be very simple, but they're never flat. Rose found her way here, in these clear vocal harmonies and acoustic guitar chords, with at times some touches of violin, flutes or piano. Her melodies are always reaching something fine, but never sugary, to the contrary, her minor chords are almost acid, at times. It's a secret, peaceful record, close to a dreamy garden. Actually, Rose lives in a small town near a Canadian lake. You can feel the beauty of her inspiration as if it was melt in snow time. This is one of the most beautiful records of the year, and I'd recommend it to the lucky fans of Homeless House, a similar masterpiece recorded in 1998 by the English singer songwriter John Cunningham.

Yes, yes! This is indeed something special to behold. I'm not sure if Rose Melberg is the kinda thing you'd play to ALL music lovers, they might not get it. But it certainly couldn't hurt to try. The music feels painstakingly crafted to be beatiful. Each little number on this reaches aching tranquility, while ghostly nuances appear within eerie chord changes or piano, flute, and violin elements. "Cast Away the Clouds" has leanings towards folk (Judee Sill) and girly indie pop (early Liz Phair) but is executed in a unique way all it's own; with dashes of French-inflected chords and understated angelic harmonies. I bought the vinyl of this after only hearing a couple full songs. Now with repeated listenings, I'm even more convinced it was the right way to go.