Deedle's Hey Rosetta! Review

Burn Baby Burn!

Let’s Paint A Picture:

A woodstove in the middle of log cabin, the fire’s embers glow. A slow breeze from above stokes the fire just enough and the littlest flame is started. Kindling is slowly added to the bed of embers as the flames grow bigger and bigger. Without warning a full log is tossed onto our healthy fire, and in no time we have a roaring glow a blaze. The fire fills the room with warmth and excitement. If this was a movie, we’d pull back to reveal a band jamming around this wood stove – that band would be Hey Rosetta!

“Into Your Lungs” the bands Polaris short listed album has the feel of a rustic rock record, one that may actually have been created around a wood burning stove. From the album opener “New Goodbye” the songs start slow and build to a crescendo that is generally worth the wait to get to. For Hey Rosetta! the journey through the song, from top to bottom is what matters – there is not a lot of “radio hooks” on this album – and they deliver through arrangement.

Unique arrangements with piano, various guitars, what appear to sound like woodwind instruments and strings (don’t quote me but I may have heard brass in there as well), and all seem simple, but at the same time refreshing, it’s these layers within the songs that build and maintain the rustic atmosphere from top to bottom of the album.

What strikes me the most about this album is I imagine it being played and shared live more so than being listened to a lot. I’ve never seen Hey Rosetta! play live, but I can imagine they take these songs and force you into them when standing in the same room as them.

This is the part of the review where I compare it to something else you may be familiar with. To bring it back to the woodstove/roaring fire motif – the glow of the fire casts shadows on the walls; shadows that resemble Hawksley Workman’s “Lover/Fighter” album and The Weakerthans “The Reasons”. Fellow Canadian company that isn’t too bad to keep.

It surprised me how much I liked this album, but how much it has gone relatively undiscovered in circles I roll in. I don’t know who that says more about. Hopefully we’ll all be saying more about Hey Rosetta! because there is no doubt this disc will get “Into Your Lungs”, and circulate through your system. (Thanks for obliging the word play, I waited the whole review but decided I couldn’t resist)

deedle