Cuckoo - Rose and the Howling North

Rosie Doonan is one of the enigmas of the Wakefield music scene. She is an undoubted talent. She has a beautiful voice; can play guitar, piano and ukulele; writes good songs; and has a real presence on stage.

Her musical career hasn't always run smooth though. She has chopped and changed musical directions a few times; gone through a few band members (including a bunch who were apparently sacked live on stage down at the Royal Park one night) and released two patchy albums.

Recently though things have been on the up. First she got a gig singing backing vocals for Peter Gabriel and now she's playing in Birdy's backing band. Ok she's only a side musician at the moment but plenty of people have started off that way - Sheryl Crow, St Vincent, Feist and Lucy Rose to name but four.

And now we have Rosie's third album. Completed pretty quickly from what I can gather with a little bit of controversy as well. Apparently Rosie was keen to take a more rough and ready approach with the playing and the production. It is rumoured that her management have not being enamored by this.

Anyway enough preamble already what is the album like?

Lets start with the title. A few hackles have been raised by the fact that its credited to Rose rather than Rosie. From what I've seen in the live shows Rosie doesn't seem to be trying to re-brand herself or anything like that. Possibly its another ploy by her management. The album cover itself is pretty classy looking with a great photo of Rosie looking mean, moody and magnificent.

The first thing I'd say about the album is that it has a cohesive feel to it. This isn't just about Rosie the star with the others in the background. It feels like an ensemble piece with everybody playing their part. Each member of the band is credited on the cover of the album. Jamie Lockhart and Lee Smith have also played their part in the recording process credited with recording, engineering and production.

The sound reminds me of sixties soul. Probably more Stax than Motown. The band play a key role but are unobtrusive. There's nothing flash and everything is in the service of showcasing Rosie's voice and songs.

In a weird way it reminds me of Nirvana (or the Pixies since that's where Cobain's mob nicked their one idea from) in that its full of loud quiet dynamics. Its not taken to the extremes of the nineties grunge scene but often the verses start quietly before building to a rousing chorus. Most obviously on one of the stand out tracks 'Shame on Me'.

Rosie has surrounded herself with some quality musicians on this album. Long time collaborator Gary Stewart is present and correct and there are not one but two bassists - Lee Smith (of Middleman) and Adam Richards (of Spirit of John, SSSSS, X-Ray Cat trio and a dozen more). Meanwhile Nicci Todd on the drums seems to have come from nowhere to star on this album as well as Jonny Firth's album that I reviewed last month. Jonny Firth himself is probably the most ear catching contributor with his electric guitar all over. From the spaghetti western sound of 'Changes' to the great sleazy riffs on 'Cherry Ride'.

I think my favourite moment on the album is 'Rest Easy' though. This is just Rosie playing Jonny's electric guitar and it is a show stopper. Everybody is so used to Rosie playing folky singer songwriter acoustic guitar so this is a bit of a departure. It sounds so raw I can almost imagine it was recorded in one take.

The album isn't perfect with a couple of tracks that sound a bit like filler - 'Demands' and the aforementioned 'Changes'. I'm also not completely sure about the title track and de facto single 'Cuckoo'. On the one hand I can't get the tune out of my head so it must be pretty catchy. On the other hand I can't get the tune out of my head so its going to start annoying me.

On the whole though I think its a good album and I think its the best Rosie has made so far. There has been a lot of talk and rumours and dissections of recent live performances. It almost reminds me of when Bob Dylan went electric. I'm expecting to see someone heckling Rosie with a shout of 'Judas' any day now. Despite all the talk I personally  don't see this as a particularly uncommercial album (whatever that means these days). Its full of good tunes, good playing and good singing. What more would a punter want?

I know Rosie tends to move on quickly so next year she may be doing techno, or acapella or Peruvian nose flute music. But that is her prerogative and I'd rather she was making music that she was passionate about and enjoying. Better that than producing bland sugary over produced stuff to chase some audience she might never get. Or sticking to the same old style just to please her fanbase.