Sounds on the Ground #13: Blue Roses
By: Dan Monsell
What's the deal? Rockfeedback first discovered Laura Groves when she went under her name alone, rather than her new Blue Roses moniker. A spellbinding performance at a Rockfeedback night way back in 2007 saw Groves drag an accompanying string quartet down the steps of North London's Buffalo Bar to give us first sight of this wondrous artist from lands afar (well, the North - bloody hell we need to get out of London more). Still in her teens at that point, and down from her native Bradford for the occasion (recommended to us by the one and only Jeremy Warmsley), the huge talent and potential we saw from her then was actually a little scary, it being nothing short of jaw-dropping to witness such a promising young artist so early on.
Flash forward to the big 09: presenting Blue Roses, an unsurprisingly equally dazzling new musical project from Groves. You might feel us a little slow on the uptake here, BR being now on many new music radars for a great deal of this year. However, we still feel her very much deserved of inclusion in our (of course much coveted) Sounds on the Ground series, so don't be calling us not on the pulse, right?
Blues Roses now sees Groves now joined live by Sadie Anderson of Chrome Hoof fame - doing violin/viola, glockenspiel, kick-drum, harmonica, harmonies and, heck, probably just about anything possible. The tracks we've heard from her recently released debut album - including stunning new single 'I Am Leaving' - have left us teary-eyed, emotionally-wounded but delighted messes on the floor. A troubling, cathartic but most certainly worth it experience all around. They really are that good.
Also strange is that the first three influences given on her MySpace (Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell and Fleetwood Mac) are indeed perfect reference points for the music (a pretty rare thing). Yet, given the classic, huge significance of such artists, something that's also equally impressive is how original and unique Groves still manages to sound. With the powerful individuality and classic talent and creativity of Bat For Lashes, Nick Drake or Thom Yorke at her disposal, it's pretty darn exciting where this fine project could lead her.
When can I see her live? A slew of festivals, dates with the superb St. Vincent and a few dates in Scotland. We say: why not take a road trip and do them ALL. Except we reckon you should mostly definitely come to the Rockfeedback show in July...
27 Jun Guardian Stage, Glastonbury Southwest
27 Jun Q Stage, Glastonbury Southwest
6 Jul Settler with St Vincent Bristol, Southwest
8 Jul ICA with St Vincent London, London and South East
13 Jul Night and Day with St Vincent Manchester, Northwest
14 Jul Nice and Sleazy with St Vincent Glasgow, Scotland
24 Jul Camp Bestival Lulworth
28 Jul Rockfeedback night / The Lexington
1 Aug Field Day London, London and South East
5 Aug Fired Art Fort William, Scotland
6th Aug Inverness, Scotland
7th Aug Grassroots Stage, Belladrum Festival Inverness
22th Aug Green Man Festival Brecon Beacons
11th Sep Bestival Isle Of Wight
What can I listen to? Four wonderful tracks on her MySpace - www.myspace.com/musicofblueroses - A great starting point is 7-inch single 'I Am Leaving', which has had such universal critical acclaim we're not sure why we haven't tried to start a backlash (we're fickle like that). Otherwise her self-titled debut album is out NOW - you can get it here http://www.musicofblueroses.com/discography
We all know music peaked in 1994, so give me a sound-bite about how we could compare them to some kind of obscure band from the Britpop era: This doesn't exactly include some main-character of Britpop, but it was around the same time, so work with us here, we're getting close to using every band from said period up! Take one of Alisha's Attic and make them spend some serious time with Kenickie in a great little countryside retreat, reading only fairy tales and taking mystical walks in the woods. Get rid of all that shiny pop sheen; melt them down into one person. Then move her to Bradford and force her to write some of the loveliest music you've heard in age, wabam! - Blue Roses there is! (Reckon we need to maybe change this category now ay?)
Artists in this article: Blue Roses, Chrome Hoof, The Groves