Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The nature of our times dictates that we believe we have more freedom than we have ever had, and yet we have become more entrenched in the cage that keeps apart from what is important, the open spaces, wide, reliable, unfailing in consistency; and instead, we cling to the incongruous and absurd, the unsuitable and ill-fitting straight jacket that locks us up securely, and we praise its ability to do so.
The confinement of art is a curse, we should be yearning for art and artists to enjoy the absolute freedom to explore all avenues, to seek out a path that leads where ever it may, and then give them room to breathe in the air created by their curiosity and insight.
For Sally Peters and Jessica Kunze, the two powerful women behind the colossal duo of Rosie’s Ghost, it is about the space in between and the freedom that eludes others, and as the album Bandida strikes a score for liberty and the pursuit of telling a story in the exact way that you wish, of understanding that not all women dream the same thing, or indeed created the same way, and that even cowgirls can beat the blues with song and furious passion, so does Bandida become an album of exquisite beauty and open regard.
The musical collaboration between Ms. Kunze and Ms. Peters has more than just a score to settle, it is the piece of art that sits comfortably across all genres of entertainment, the album that can be viewed as visual performance and insightful conquest of the interpretation of the written word in delivered lyrics and instrumental study.
Although the album won’t be seen in the traditional sense of the Progressive, it is a recording that is propelled along by its own industry, the story of the girl at the centre of the storm, the girl who loves horses and the tension of her surroundings, is at its heart as Progressive as it comes, and for the three years that it took to bring this album to its natural conclusion and warmth that its exudes in spades, it is relatable, relevant, and most of all significant in today’s crowded world.
Across tracks such as Big City Days, On The Train, Let’s Ride Horses Together, Dimestore Cowboy and the excellent Romance Novel Cover, Rosie’s Ghost live the dream of expression in such rich and unrestricted detail that it the listener finds themselves forgetting that the cage exists, indeed finding that the steel bars that confine, were just after all, illusions.
We make our own space, we are not dictated by imposed relationships that hem us in, rather we are the keeps of our own space, and like Rosie’s Ghost, we must find ways to step into the open areas of our mind and create freedom that inspires other people to do the same.
An album of beauty, of craving, one that brings Rosie’s Ghost, Sally Peters and Jessica Kunze absolutely into the frame of the music lover’s experience.
Ian D. Hall