Having already earned glowing comparisons with artists as diverse as James Blake, The Weeknd, Laura Mvula, and The XX following critically acclaimed tracks such as Right Thing, Water Came Down, How’d You Like It and Who’s That Girl?, the London-based, Devon-born musician Rosie Lowe is set to perform at Manchester’s Soup Kitchen on the day of the release of hew new album Control, 19 February.
Lowe has produced Control with Dave Okumu (Jessie Ware, Paloma Faith, Kwabs, The Invisible). In addition to her inimitable vocal delivery, the album is also set to highlight Lowe’s skills as a pianist too.
Rosie Lowe grew up in south Devon as the youngest of six siblings. Their father, an accomplished jazz saxophonist, encouraged them to follow creative interests and together they bonded over a shared love of music. For Rosie, a childhood love of jazz set her on a path that would dictate her future. “There’s never been anything else that I’ve wanted to do,” she asserts. “Music wasn’t an option, it was a necessity.”
She soon became enamoured with the leading lights of the female singer-songwriter tradition – Carole King, Erykah Badu and Joni Mitchell to name but a few. She learnt their songs then broke them apart. She analysed their lyrics. She fell in love with the art of songwriting.
It wasn’t until she studied popular music at Goldsmiths, however, that she found her own sound. The breakthrough came when she ditched her instruments and focused on teaching herself production and recording techniques. She was soon approached by management and signed to Domino Publishing. London indie label 37 Adventures soon jumped on board too, and released her critically-adored, four-track debut EP Right Thing.
Lowe’s personality is a central part of who she is as a musician: she writes with crushing honesty about issues within her life – Who’s That Girl? addressed the matter of some so-called friends who didn’t help while she was hospitalized, and album track Nicole is a plea for Rosie’s best friend to leave a bad relationship. And yet as articulate and opinionated as she is, she possesses a warmth and a sharp-wit that immediately allows strangers to feel like old pals.
Earlier this year, Rosie Lowe played a beguiling set within the beautiful surroundings of the St. Pancras Old Church.
The tour also comes off the back of single Worry Bout Us, a hazy daydream of melancholy pop, with a piano-based melody leading a soundscape of pulsing waves of bass and skittering beats. “Worry About Us is a song about trying to maintain a relationship with someone who is plagued by jealousy and insecurity,” she says. “Unfortunately, the inevitable complexity of relationships means that it’s rarely as easy as simply reassuring someone.”
The run of dates which finds Rosie Lowe in Manchester at the Soup Kitchen marks her headline debut tour.
Rosie Lowe performs at Soup Kitchen on 19 February.
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