Widowspeak – Roses
Widowspeak's seventh album is a rosy blend of feathery vocals and gritty guitars
Roses is a mesh of tender images and homely romance. Widowspeak, the songwriting duo of Molly Hamilton and Robert Earl Thomas, dodge cliches, painting cosy, familiar pictures. On No Driver, a relationship exists in quiet spaces between journeys: 'You still believe you know the road by heart / But all things rust and all things rattle apart'. Routine domestic memories are second-nature, conjured in vivid flushes. Wondering exists in slow, sultry spaces, creeping into an ode to romance found in the ordinary: 'In a leather booth, with a red glass candle / Share a plate and slide closer to you'. Lazy guitars snake around Mazzy Star-esque vocals, while Heaven is Waiting lulls us into serenity.
While softer tracks are lush and soothing, there's a unique grittiness in the tracks which blur floaty vocals with volatile guitars. Often in unpredictable outbursts of colour and crescendos, tracks like If You Change blend breathy melodies with earthy tones. The nostalgic, lived-in No Driver's wandering riff feels reminiscent of classic rock. Engine-like driven guitars on Soft Cover give way to dreamy, carefree chords. This combination of hushed melodies and harshness should clash, but instead balances in a push-and-pull harmony.
Listen to: No Driver, Heaven is Waiting, Soft Cover