Joe Rosati
– The Candelabra Light (Independent)
Back in the very early ‘80s, the scorched-earth
musical policies of punk were all but extinguished, but the spirit lived on,
through a variety of post-punk outfits keen to rip-up the rulebook and
establish new procedures and ways of doing things. From the dissonant agit-funk
of groups like Gang Of Four and A Certain Ratio to the highly literate
song-based bands like Echo & The Bunnymen and Teardrop Explodes, the new
scene was eclectic, cultured and tremendously exciting – and Joe Rosati would
have fitted right in.
It would be all too easy to dismiss Rosati as an
artist making music drastically out of time, and much of “The Candelabra Light”
feels rooted in a scene that’s long disappeared. Fortunately (for everyone
concerned) the accessibility of digitized music has opened up the past and made
available styles and sounds to new listeners - and personal playlists zip back
and forth through the years, blurring timelines and laying waste to notions of
fashion. Rosati’s songs are there to be enjoyed, whatever the time and place of
origin.
Working with producer and bandmate Ben Fuller (China
Davis), “The Candelabra Light” was recorded in Rosati’s family home, in the
Urban Grace Church in Tacoma, WA, and Fuller's Studio
in Seattle. The result is a collection with differing textures and qualities,
though it retains an undeniable artistic consistency, which is down to both
Rosati’s songs and his delivery. Highlights come thick and fast. Opening cut “Candelabra” echoes and
reverberates, the simple accompaniment enhanced by atmosphere and mood. “Narrow Path” combines the wiry
post-industrial rock of the northwest of England with the post-grunge aesthetic of
northwest USA, together with something altogether older and rootsier, while “Sunset
Savior” injects a sublime Nick Drake-esque ambience that almost takes the breath away.
Phil S.
