Album Reviews |

Rosabella Gregory



Everything Comes Together 8½ ( 2008 )
Water / Better Love Next Time / India, China / Still / Elodie / Stars / Falling Leaves / Under The Rubble / Love The Man / Some Things You Say / Let Her Tell Me / Stay By You

Half Egyptian, Devon-raised singer-songwriter Rosabella Gregory releases her debut album. Think Tori Amos, fearsome Piano skills, kooky lyrics. Indeed, Rosabella is a Royal College of Music graduate, so she can't be bad. Any accusations levelled at her that she's a 'Stars In Their Eyes' Tori Amos impersonator with a penchant for the odd dodgy lyrical segment are way out of order, though. Don't even think it. 'Let Her Tell Me' for example is way to the side of anything Tori Amos has ever done. This superb song not only has someone trying to be Hendrix way down in the mix ( it works really well like this ) but has something of a loose, gospel feel.

Lyrically, the album presents a mix of Rosabella's own lyrics with songs also featuring lyrics by her twin sister, Dina. Perhaps the most troublesome lyric is the following which opens the actually quite marvellous 'Elodie'. Elodie and her mum live in a one bedroom flat in Bethnal Green. Elodie keeps a special secret, Elodie is the dancing queen. This, i'm sure you'll all agree, is a bit of a mouthful. Well, when sung in a ten second duration it is. Still, that's about the worst thing I can find to say about the album. A long sentence on a song I still enjoy quite a bit. Ah, almost forgot. 'India, China' was my favourite Rosabella song from an early EP of hers. The album version features a slightly different arrangement that I can't get used to. This still isn't a major issue though. I do like the song in either arrangement - positively in many respects - it's just no longer my favourite.

Ah, let's pick out some highlights whilst saying that the couple of million people out there who bought 'Little Earthquakes' by Tori Amos will, and I say this with 100% certainty, love 'Everything Comes Together'. The first single 'Water' remains a pleasing, melodic yet still inventive track, with Rosabella's piano lines mapping out tinkling water waves or some such thing. 'Still' and 'Stars' are both superior ballads of a rare quality and both compositionally never put a single foot wrong. Even better is 'Under The Rubble' which revolves around a simple melodic pattern, an affecting arrangement and very effective lyrics. Match those things to an impeccable Rosabella vocal and you have a genuinely spine-chillingly great tune. The closing 'Stay By You' is a song better than at least half of 'Little Earthquakes' if I annoyingly must keep making that comparison. Well, it's a much-loved sound and Tori herself rarely uses it anymore, so why not?

I said i'd come back to 'Let Her Tell Me' though, didn't I? Ah, I didn't? Well, I will do anyway, just briefly. The best song here, this has Kate Bush levels of ambition and doesn't sound so much composed as beamed magically into being. The song builds up from slow to a rousing finale and half-way through the guitar player goes mad and you don't notice at first. It's just there in the background, way down in the sound spectrum, but it really does add a wonderful texture. Gospel styled backing vocals, quite understated, also effectively lift the song to another level - brilliant stuff. The album pleasingly has been well reviewed by the likes of The BBC and The Independant among other sources and now far more importantly ( ha! ) by me, too.

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I apologise for taking so long to getting round to covering this, but life gets in the way of good music sometimes. It seemed that way for Rosabella for a while as label wrangles prevented her from releasing new music. Everything resolved, she set about self financing and promoting this, her second long player. The overall sound of the album seems more focused than her debut releases, we retain her richly melodic Piano lines factor in often dramatic yet never over-done orchestrations and here and there a full band join in. The opening title track is a good an indication of what to expect as the strings soar, impressive drum patterns add to the drama and exhilaration of it all and Rosabella herself sings and plays with virtuosity creating a five minute plus song of genuine ambition - a fine way to open her second album, it immediately informs you that she's progressed artistically. A switch into the sweet 'Tokyo' further heightens the sense of artistry on display here whilst the luxuriant superior ballads 'When It Hurts' and 'Sylvia' once more benefit from the additional layers the orchestration adds to Rosabella and band.

'Walking In Your Shade' mixes things up with something almost, but not quite resembling a reggae beat or do my ears need cleaning out? Perhaps not reggae, rather bouncy and bold. 'Reason' further encourages a sense of quiet wonder as you tend to marvel at how nuanced her vocal performance is whilst the band play softly and empathically along. Another word for the drummer (i'm not ignoring everyone else by the way) as 'For A Lifetime' arrives to inventive patterns, Rosabella coos and sways, her Piano rolls across the tune playfully and the caress of the strings wraps up the package, a gift for music lovers the world over. Whilst 'Dangerous Games' doesn't quite have the same amount of high-points 'Everything Comes Together' offered, you can't really argue convincingly that she hasn't furthered her cause with a more than solid offering that showcases her talents well.

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