First off, Rosalie Cunningham straddles genres with aplomb. She has her feet deeply embedded in the Prog world but adds psychedelic and sixties flavoured rock as well as ballads of a rare quality. She also has one of the most recognizable voices – somewhere between a mezzo-soprano and a contralto with a vibrato that makes her voice really dramatic. Added to that, she is a multi-instrumentalist and writes all her own material. Quite the package. She is also a great listen.
This her third album since the breakup of Ipso Facto and then Purson and she is maturing well.
Her songs are a brilliant mix of stories and whimsy, opening with the title track, a cod-Bond Theme taking the smoke and mirrors out of the movie game. ‘Timothy Martins Conditioning School’ could be a sixties number, ‘Heavy Pencil’ has all the markers of a hard rock psych number with random lines put together in a theme that suggests a desire to hide away from all the noise and business of today’s life.
My favourite tracks are probably ‘In The Shade Of The Shadows’ which features all the best elements of Rosalie Cunningham, and ‘Stepped Out Of Time’ – pure psychedelic.
Ten tracks (twelve if you get the CD), all very individual, but all bearing the marker of her voice and unique way of throwing in words that seem out of context but that, on reflection, are perfect for the sound of the song. Then there is the music, and it is absolutely superb. She plays guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion and vocals bringing in specialists where necessary – Ian East on flute , clarinet and sax, Ric Sanders on electric violin, David Woodcock on piano and Itamar Rubinger & Raphael Mura on drums.
Quite superb from start to finish. Thoroughly recommended.
