“The glass is half full,” says singer-songwriter, Haroula Rose. To kick off the first day of spring, Rose serenaded a room full of Manhattan dwellers as part of the Annie O Music Series in the Penthouse of The Standard Hotel. The ensemble was minimal with Rose on lead electric guitar and melodic lines coming from her band mate, Yoshi also playing electric and singing backgrounds. The blend of their voices came into one another seamlessly. Though the sound was just the two of them, it didn’t feel like anything was missing.
The Standard’s view
The Standard’s view
The Standard’s view
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Haroula Rose
The sentiment of Rose’s music is deeply contemplative, harkening back to a simpler time where ships were sailed by wind and tossed fearlessly by the rain. Water is a theme in her latest album, Here The Blue River. Rose calls it, “A meditative record; something meant to be listened to from beginning to end.” Unlike traditional single-listen, demolition streaming, this record’s purpose is to keep you around for a process through the artist’s nostalgia, heartbreak, and hope. Her lingering vulnerability and casual stage banter was effortless in this live setting. The audience jostled with restlessness at times but mostly tuned in to the gentle cooing of her voice and the harmonic bed laid by the shimmering guitar sounds.
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Rose shared the inspiration behind “Moon and Waves,” a tune off the forthcoming LP, as it relishes the moments of a child’s inner questioning on the workings of reality. “When the waves they crash maybe that’s how they dance while we shrug and we sigh and another day goes by. That’s how the moments pass. Drops in an hourglass. Oh, where do we go? Who knows where we go?”
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After the show, Rose described her thoughts when she’s up on stage, “I usually try to remember what made me write the song in the first place and channel that, otherwise you get temped to psych yourself out with things like performing… I just try to go to that inspiration.”
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Haroula Rose
Haroula Rose
Haroula Rose
Here The Blue River is the title of Rose’s second album, set to be released this Friday, on March 25th. Catch Haroula Rose in two weeks on April 8th at Rough Trade in Brooklyn as she opens for Darlingside and David Wax Museum. If you’re on the run, catch Haroula Rose at another stop along the tour here.
Article: Tiffany Wilson
