Who is Mr. Rosewater? (EP Review)

Describing who Mr. Rosewater is with words does not quite do it justice, but I will try my best. This young rock group is composed of a collaboration of tortured souls who were sent to bring back the rock and roll experience. After spending over a a year laboring over every detail of the sound, Mr. Rosewater has finally shared their long awaited debut EP, "Who is Mr Rosewater?". Over the course of that 14-month recording period, the members of Mr. Rosewater went to five different locations in an attempt to perfectly recreate their internal vision for the songs.

One component that captures this band's sound and image well is their intentionality. Every note played and every image featured on the album art all have a larger meaning. During an interview with Extra Chill, Patrick Tobias, the band's lead guitar player, when asked about the album art commented, "The album cover is an image that I altered of a nuclear family from 1958, I felt it depicts a part of life we all can relate to, but at the same time is a bit nostalgic." Learning the intention behind the album's art allows one to have greater appreciation to the artistry that went into this project. Reflecting the album's image, upon completion the listener is left in a state of pure nostalgia, as if walking into a record store full of their favorite vintage albums.

As the needle begins its journey around the record, your ears are taken captive by the raw emotions their sound conveys. Rather than producing a simple compilation of demo tracks, this EP is a story for your ears. Mr. Rosewater takes its listeners on a dynamic auditory expedition that allows them to gain a deep seeded understanding of both their band and the passionate tales their music relays.

Great measures were taken to create a sense of interconnectedness and fluidity between each track's sounds and feelings. This stylistic component allowed the audience to transition from one idea to the next which creates a sense of harmony within the EP.

From the very beginning, a sense of angst and uneasiness consumes the listeners ears allowing them to feel the singer's raw emotions as if they were their own. As the band cries out, "if you don't want to change then to hell with you!" during both the second and fourth tracks, it becomes clear how making the needed changes in one's life is easier said than done. Moreover, the need for these same changes may reappear later on in one's life just as those lyrics reappear at different points in the EP. Utilizing creative tactics such as this to create a sense of unity between the EP is one of the many elements that set this band apart from other young bands in this genre.

Through the soul of the trumpet and rock and roll screams of the guitar, Mr. Rosewater provides a voice to the raw emotions inside us all.

Given a full album to work with I guarantee a true artistic masterpiece would be brought to life by this band. Until they release their full album please set aside the time to enjoy their first EP and discover for yourself "Who Is Mr. Rosewater?"

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