I can’t think of a better time to listen to Rosie Frater-Taylor and her newest album, Featherweight. In the southern US, we’ve reached this routine purgatory: the stretch between holidays and waiting for green to dot the trees and grass again in spring. We’re turning a corner! I can taste it, I can feel it, and Featherweight’s edgy jazz slant is making me appreciate the humdrum moments.
Rosie’s maturity since her 2021 release, Bloom, brings more grit to the album which maybe only comes with time and age, but certainly work in her favor. Her bold overdrive use takes her work into its own alt-pop jazz realm and it’s damn good. The virtuoso guitarist sprouts an original style with her unpredictable flows, melodic scats, and ability to combine a jazz foundation on Featherweight with appealing pop and rock moments.
Rosie’s spin on TLC‘s “No Scrubs” is a refreshingly perfect fit into the album. I love how the first few verses are gentle, as she calmly plays clean tones before the entrance of the drums. There’s a submissive but melodic energy as she leads into the chorus the first time. But the second time, her and the guitar amp up the ferocity and make themselves heard, loud and clear. The peaceful intro leading into the crowded intensity on the chorus’ repetition is a relatable contrast for women. Between her vocals and instrumentals, Rosie parallels the frustrating sentiment of having to mean what you say instead of just saying what you feel. This is a cover I’d never have imagined for this song but absolutely love.
“Give & Take” and “Hold the Weight” welcome the grittiest bits of the 10 tracks. Opening track “Give & Take” builds to a hard rock intensity with full overdrive combined with scats that solidify her freshness. She uses a Supro Westbury electric guitar for a surprisingly cleaner, retro sound. It comes out dark, but prevails amidst the layered guitars. She picked up this guitar after collaborating with jazz ensemble Snarky Puppy‘s Michael League. ‘It was the only electric guitar he had at his studio and it’s the craziest sounding guitar you could imagine. It sounds so weird, but it sounds so good! It’s very smooth, but it also has a very plucky sound,‘ says Rosie with Guitar World.
“Hold the Weight” begins more simply, with her classic humming along with the acoustic guitar. But the Supro Westbury’s brief appearance before 1:00 foreshadows the potential for an extreme energy shift. It bubbles up as she makes a stern vocal and instrumental shift with ‘And at the end of the day / Words won’t hold the weight / When you can’t turn the page / For a heart full of rage.‘ The slow build-up adds in guitar layers to an angsty ending, like letting out a scream that’s been held back for years. It’s validating and freeing, and I love this tone of Featherweight.
“Twenties” has a folk-pop air that reminds me of “Can’t Behave” from Courtney Jaye‘s 2004 debut, Traveling Light. It’s fun and on the lighter side of the tracks. The end of one lyric jumbles into the next. It’s the perfect song structure for a song called “Twenties”. Rosie gives us a peek into her internal dialogue as she sings, ‘Tryna have a good time, tryna have a good time.’ It’s a simple line, but a reassuring one, and one I often remind myself when I need to center my mind amidst the ups and downs of my twenties.
Lyrically and vocally, “Get in Line” is my personal favorite. Her smooth, glassy vocals at some points balance out the full boldness she brings with the lines ‘Feeling alone / Just because we’re in the know / Full blown conversations in my head / But I can’t seem to find the thread.‘ Our seemingly limitless dreams and thoughts in our twenties put us in this place Rosie’s putting under the microscope. How do we live in the moment while preparing for the future? She’s peering behind the curtain of life and sees the machines turning – so what’s the point, right? I appreciate her accessibility with these lyrics. She brings a relatable ‘Ignorance was bliss…’ attitude balanced in that space between teenage years and adulthood. This song and similarly “Heartbeat” leads your ears to unknown places with her voice, and she’s in complete unison with her guitar to create a dreamy state of being.
Rosie Frater-Taylor is making her own space with sophisticated jazz influences on this alt, sprinkled with pop and folk release, Featherweight. There’s a necessary release of rage and frustration on this album that’s original but relatable. Sometimes it’s in the lyrics themselves, the vocal structure and flow, and always in the beautifully mastered guitar moments. At 24, she’s only a year older than me, so the themes resonate perfectly. Take a moment with this album to just pause and enjoy.
Artist photo from Rosie’s website.
