Singer-songwriter Ashley Monroe has today released her ethereally joyful, transcendent new record Rosegold that sees her exploring the rosy side of life in all its forms. Listen to the full record here.
Ashley Monroe earned her name through heartbreak songs like ‘The Blade,’ exploring the depths and nuances of pain and sorrow – a well-trodden path for many country music artists. However, on her new record Rosegold, out today, she has instead sought to inspire ‘chills‘ through joy rather than sorrow. Sonically, the record sees Monroe take a shift into more of an experimental sound that puts her ethereal vocal front and centre. Indeed, Monroe took a different approach in the evolution of the songs – rather than make demos of songs that appear on Rosegold, Monroe tracked and co-produced the album a-song-at-a-time, bringing ideas into writing sessions and inviting her collaborators — Nathan Chapman, Mikey Reaves, Jake Mitchell, Jordan Reynolds, Ben West, and longtime producer/co-writer Tyler Cain — to help build and produce full tracks in the studio. The result is a joyfully experimental record.
The album opens with ‘Siren’ an ethereally seductive and sultry song, with Monroe cast in the role of seductress as she sings ‘There’s nowhere else that you’d rather be / I’m what you want, I’m what you know you need.’ Monroe pushes her vocal in every direction, layering deliciously with thrumming beats and strings – a perfectly fitting introduction, before moving into ‘Silk’ that celebrates the good of love. It’s a track that encompasses the listener in its sonic landscape – ‘something tells me to hold on to you.’ As its name suggests – its a silken, smooth track and the best example on the record of the range of her vocal, layering majestically. Another celebration of love is offered on ‘See’ where Monroe celebrates the redemptive power of love. ‘I wish I could find the words to show you what it’s like.’ It’s a standout moment record, offered by the heavier instrumentation.
Elsewhere, Monroe embraces her groovier, sexier side on ‘Gold’ and ‘Groove’ that marry heavier beats seamlessly with her angelic vocal – on the first singing about the compulsive nature of love and attraction ‘You’re a fifties record on the stereo, You’re California pouring that sunshine on my soul.’ Monroe sings with abandon, losing herself with the kind of abandon that she encourages a lover to release on ‘Til It Breaks.’
‘Drive’ – the first single to be released from the album – is a euphoric track and a highlight of the record. As Monroe says of the track’s inspiration when writing with Mikey Reaves and Niko Moon, ‘I told them my dad/other angels always send special songs on my birthday. It didn’t take long into the session until we knew we were on to a special one. I always imagine me singing this while driving on a desert highway.’ It’s a summery, layered and intoxicating track that experiments with Spanish-infused plucky production that manages to somehow fit seamlessly, before moving into the celestial, dream-like sonic landscape of ‘Flying,’ celebrating the joys of love.
The record ends with ‘The New Me,’ a fitting thematic statement for Rosegold replete with a vintage-tinged production, as Monroe sings of being ‘ready to love’ and let go. Monroe wrote and recorded over the past two years and on Rosegold she has pushed her sound in bold new directions, layering lush vocal harmonies atop dreamy, synthesized soundscapes and sensual beats – the result is an utterly compelling, dizzyingly intoxicating record that celebrates love in all its forms.
