Rose Melberg

Bear in a Cave (.mp3, Mediafire)
Moon Singer (.mp3, Mediafire)

I was, I think, about to explode with excitement when I heard there was going to be a new Rose Melberg album out this month -- so, I've been pretty much on the verge of explosion since July.

The first time I heard Rose Melberg's voice, I was in middle school. My ambiguously employed uncle (he works for a record company in, uh, some capacity -- I don't know, his basement is filled with boxes of promo albums and label comps) gave me a Lookout Records compilation featuring Go Sailor and I was in love -- I ordered the Lookout album that compiled Go Sailor's 7"s and would spend hours lying on the floor listening to my favorite Go Sailor songs ("I'm Still Crying" and "Dreaming" on repeat). When I was older (high school age), I got into the Softies (Jen's two girls with guitars project with Jen Sbragia) and when I was older still (college age) I got into Gaze (a Vancouver based pop band that Rose drummed for).

Rose's solo efforts are soft -- they're perfect music to read to, to have on in the background while you make dinner -- I can already tell, this is a record that I am going to listen to when it gets cold, when the sun starts to set at 5PM.

I chose two songs from Rose's new album to post here -- "Bear in a Cave" and "Moon Singer." I love their melancholy air, the use of animals, the way they seem to amble along. I know that this album with ultimately be a "grower" for me, that it doesn't have the raw urgency and immediacy of some of Rose's other work, but with a few listens, it will be there.

This interview with Rose in Vancouver's Westender is almost a year old, but it's great reading. I especially love this bit:

Motherhood inevitably took precedence in Melberg’s life during the next several years, so when she finally began writing again in 2004, setting aside a block of time each Sunday, she was concerned about what her efforts would produce – if anything at all. “It was difficult, and I was really afraid of what I would find,” she says. “And I remember one thing that [K Records founder] Calvin Johnson said to me when I was having difficulty writing. He said, ‘Rose, it’s a river; it’s not a well. It’s not going to run dry. It’s always there.’”

Rose's new album is out now on K Records. You can order it here.

Bear in a Cave (.mp3, Mediafire)
Moon Singer (.mp3, Mediafire)