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Album reviews Music

Frankie Rose

Rating: NNN


The opening guitars on Frankie Rose’s third solo album trick you into thinking the Brooklynite might be looping back to her garagey indie rock days (she was an original member of Crystal Stilts and Dum Dum Girls). Not so. Except for the dissonant pep of Heaven, Rose’s careful vocals float among bittersweet synths for 37 minutes of dreamy Cure- and Bangles-evoking pop.

Lead single Sorrow has driving-music zip. Unfortunately, it sounds a lot like Minor Times, which sounds like Question / Reason. An exception to the overall sameness is The Depths, whose 80s-movie-soundtrack synths unearth memories of a rolling TV stand and a dark classroom.

The record’s climax is a sombre one: the minor chords and delicate strings of Cliffs As High make for the album’s saddest and most powerful moments. Rose’s genre is dream pop, and this tune is a slumber you don’t want to wake up from.

Top track: Cliffs As High

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