Rosali Middleman’s 2021 album “No Medium” is one of those great albums that kinda crept up on us–it was more of a slow-burning rise than an Event Album–but she’s since signed to Merge Records, built up a lot of anticipation for new music, and her new album “Bite Down” does already kind of feel like an event.
Rosali makes songs that take their time in revealing their full power. What might appear to be restrained, introspective compositions will stretch slowly outward, snagging your attention with a sideways guitar lead or an exceptionally raw lyric you didn’t catch the first time around. Her softly glowing music is deceptively fluid, able to appear patient and refined at the edge of unraveling.
Rosali made it with the same band that she made “No Medium” with, David Nance and Mowed Sound (who also released their own new album last month), and though they didn’t know each other very well when they made “No Medium“, they’ve since become super close, and it sounds like “Bite Down” was more collaborative from the start than its predecessor. “When we went to make this record, I went in with the songs less developed than I normally would because I wanted it to be a band record,” Rosali said.
Rosali and David Nance have a shared love of Neil Young, and “Bite Down‘s” mix of intimate folk music and electrified jams has already gotten its fair share of Crazy Horse comparisons, while Rosali’s warm, soaring voice has echoes of Fairport Convention’s Sandy Denny (and, on “My Kind,” sounds a little like Stevie Nicks). With comparisons like those, it probably comes as no surprise that “Bite Down” sounds like something that could’ve come out circa 1967-1973, and it has the same transportive quality that the best folk rock albums from that era did. It doesn’t take you back in time so much as it takes you to another world entirely.
A lot of great indie albums came out last week, and this is the standout. This is coming from a huge fan of Waxahachie who put out a brilliant new album. “Bite Down” has everything: great music, great lyrics and a down to earth vibe.
The Fat Angel Sings 