Last Friday, Manchester’s Rosellas filled the intimate venue of The Star in London as part of their tour with This Feeling.
*banner image courtesy of the band.
It follows the recent release of their new single, ‘Is It Any Wonder?’ which showed signs of a breakthrough as the sold-out crowd visibly grew in voice for their new melodic offering. In its protracted intro, the little touches of John Martyn’s masterpiece ‘Small Hours’ took the melodic tumble and soar gem to another level.
Tempering this newfound gentler sonic was an array of jaw-dropping psychedelic adventures. ‘Before the Storm’ swelled with the indie anxieties of Doves’ debut and Nick McCabe's explorative introspection before erupting into a modern-day Aphrodite’s Child.
‘Come Alive’ echoed with rock music’s mysticism. Spaced out and seeking something bigger than themselves, they sought meaning through life’s struggles with a tangible purity in the room. Drew Selby and Euan Mail’s guitars, powered by ‘A Storm in Heaven,’ drifted in the mire until a modern-day Andy Bell solo erupted with psychedelic clarity to transcend souls.
The band's growing stature, the songs, and the crowd just went on and on. Rosellas creatively looked like a collective, spiritually hedonistic gang built on togetherness. The songs, lifted to colossal in places (Switch Off), stripped to DMA’s magic in others (The Same Curse), seemingly at the will of this astonishing prospect of a band. The sold-out crowd filtered up the tight stairwell, giddy to smugness, knowing they were treated to something truly special before huge stages came the band's way.