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Rosa Duet is one of those rare albums that feels like you've lived with it for
years, even as you hear it for the first time. It's a labour of love for
Melbourne's Barb Waters. Her clear - yet grained - voice is what anchors each of
the songs, though never in a particularly dominating way. Indeed, the album - a
series of duets with a number of Waters' muso mates, including Rob Snarski, Nick
Barker, Anna Burley and Cyndi Boste - is a study in give-and-take. There's a
sense of playfulness about the songs that gives Rosa Duet a unique appeal.
Musically, the songs are relatively similar in tone. There's that laid-back,
just-making-it groove that was once practised by The Badloves, and there's more
than a touch of the sort of countrified folk that bands like The Jayhawks or
Love Me call home. Alt-country? This disc sounds a little too cheery for that,
no matter how mopey some lyrics may seem. Indeed, there's a sense of wistful
observation that pervades the album. There's looking back and there's learning -
but there's never hopeless despair. Light always glimmers - however far off - in
Waters' world.
Highlights of the album include Wipe Away My Tears, the tune that's closest to
the genesis of Rosa Duet. Lisa Miller and Rebecca Barnard -
two artists who shared the stage with Waters for a "Back Porch" gig, from whence
the idea of a personal, shared series of songs came - provide vocals that verge
on the spine-tingling. Kim Salmon's vocal duties on Make It Count possess his
requisite sneer, while the band ply a Calexico-style trail, all Morricone horns
and giddy-up guitar lines. I Won't See You Again, with Matt Walker, is a pretty
standard done-me-wrong tune, but it's one of the most emotionally-effective
tunes on disc. It gutters out in a series of bent notes, providing perhaps Rosa
Duet's darkest moment. The pace is picked up with Jessie (Me And You) which -
over the top of a gloriously driving progression with church-house organ -
features the rich vocal interplay of Waters and Anna Burley. A similar
acceleration occurs on the Git-accompanied Further Down The Line, before the
album's closer, a rootsy, dirty tune with Ashley Davies (Make Some Decision)
brings it on home, in true bottleneck style.
Rosa Duet proves to be the perfect soundtrack to an lugubrious afternoon with a
couple of drinks as the sun filters through the blinds. It possesses a
simplicity and sense of artistic ebullience that gives it an honesty that's
endearing - so much so that it's hard to highlight any one song over the others.
Recommended.
All About
Barb Waters (Artist), Cyndi Boste (Artist), Dan Warner (Artist), Kim Salmon
(Artist), Lisa Miller (Artist), Rebecca Barnard (Artist), Rob Snarski (Artist),
Matt Walker (Artist), Anna Burley (Artist), Nick Barker (Artist), Git (Artist),
Ashley Davies (Artist),
Laughing Outlaw Records (Record Label)
Reported by: Luke - Friday, Feb 20, 2004.
from
www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/music/135/
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