Friday, September 27, 2013

REVIEW: Frankie Rose - Herein Wild


Frankie Rose is a few years removed from her time with the Vivian Girls, but the greater span is the musical distance covered in her path from that first band, through Dum Dum Girls, Crystal Stilts and Frankie Rose & the Outs to her current project.  But perhaps Ms. Rose is where she wants to stay for a while, because Herein Wild, her new LP for Fat Possum, follows the same path as 2012's Interstellar.  And for her fans, that is a good thing because continuing to work in the realm of glossy, new wave pop allows Rose to fine tune her songcraft, tweak her sound and, it seems to me, produce the best album of her career.

As with its predecessor, Herein Wild is melodic and jangly, with sweet vocals and bass and percussion well up in the mix.  Stylistically, it probably fits best straddling the fence between dreampop and new wave.  The differences are the addition of strings, a more melancholy cast to the lyrics and a surer touch with production.  But with the those engaging lead vocals, soaring choruses and bright arrangements, sad lyrics aren't enough to make it a downer of an album.  Unless a listener is obsessed with the words, listening to this album is likely to be among the most uplifting moments of his or her day.  This is high-quality pop music for savvy adults; I recommend it.






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