Rosali Live Preview: 4/18, Empty Bottle, Chicago

Photo by Asia Harman

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Isn't it remarkable that Destroyer's Dan Bejar, the king of obtuseness, managed to so deftly nail his description of Bite Down (Merge), the fourth album from indie rock musician Rosali? Bejar referred to Rosali's instrumental and lyrical evolution as sporting a "hard-won ease;" I couldn't help but come back to that phrase when listening to standout track "Hills on Fire". As Rosali Middleman gently sings validations like, "That color looks so good on you," her backing band, David Nance's Mowed Sound, hint at something darker, James Schroeder's guitars growing increasingly scraggly. Eventually, Middleman sings, "I can be hellish and awful, too / Anger built in my youth." It's a moment where you realize that Bite Down shows Rosali as wise in her reflective realism, while still avoiding cynicism and leaving room for hope.

Bite Down was written after Rosali moved from her long-time home of Philadelphia to North Carolina; it concerns physical and emotional change while remaining astonishingly present. That interplay is reflected in both her words and the band's instrumentation. Take "Rewind", an easygoing, earnest, romantic country rock song that sees the silver lining in bad times. Eventually, the band's subtle freak-outs yield effects that sound like someone attempting to whoosh back in time but being held back and reminded to live in the moment. On "Slow Pain", Middleman dives head first into her angst, atop steady, pattering drums from Kevin Donahue and Schroeder's restrained lead guitar. "Have you seen my grief? Hold it so I don't spill out," she sings. The song eventually lets you into Middleman's head with piercing guitars resisting being muted, as she describes, "Killing time with the slow pain." And the title track fights despair with Ted Bois' groovy keyboard lines and Megan Siebe's warm cello, Middleman reaching out for help: "I can't seem to bring myself ashore / Put aside your foolish pride / To move beyond the rising tide."

Photo by Harrison Martin

Sure, there are a few songs on Bite Down that center on moods more static: ennui ("Hopeless"), pain ("Is It Too Late"), even horniness (earworm opener "On Tonight"). But it all comes together on the building, burning closer "May It Be on Offer". "And I do wonder / And waste my life / No, I don't wonder / If I waste my life," Middleman sings, clarifying that she knows that "[sitting] for hours / Gazing at the light" is what most would consider bed rotting. As the song progresses, though--keyboard humming, guitars fluttering--Middleman's outlook is brighter. "There is hope upon me / There is reason to try," she sings, a hymnal, or maybe a lullaby, singing herself not to sleep but back to that hard-won ease.

Rosali plays the Empty Bottle tonight, with a backing band of Nance, Schroeder, and Donahue. Local indie rockers Fran open. Doors at 8 PM, show at 9. Tickets still available at time of publication.

Running Gags in Hatchetfield Musicals pt 10 | Fake Musicals within a Musical

dani rojas, beloved by mothers (and all women. and everybody else actually) TED LASSO, 3.11

Hatchetfield fans how’re we doing

“i’m trapped.”

[ dead poets society (1989) / chapter viii, chen chen / young royals 2x04 / the raven boys, maggie stiefvater / “rocks in my shoes” (unreleased), noah kahan / ted lasso 3x11 / welcome to nightvale, joseph fink & jeffrey cranor / “homesick,” noah kahan ]

Jamie tartt running to his mom because someone on Twitter said his hair was blonde when it’s clearly walnut mist

jungkook trying (and failing) to beat the cute allegations cr. jung-koook for @jung-koook

Ted missed a chapter or two

SLEEZE SWEEP!!!

the beanies employees call each other bitch during shifts.

emma has to check the rota pretty much day to find out Bitch #4’s actual name.

I was inspired by another post so I sent my friend random Hatchetfield characters with little information and made them guess who they were.

that’s his mum’s nickname for him btw. how’s everyone doing

Just more spankoffski’s and the eldritch horror that haunts them cuz I know nothing else ~

3.07 TED LASSO

Just some silly guys and gals from around town

hatchetfield as onion articles :)

i will never get sick of these