Rosie Tee ~ Earth, Embrace Me In

Avant-pop wunderkind Rosie Tee is proud to unveil her much anticipated new EP, entitled Earth, Embrace Me In. It's a six-track collection of love songs but not for people, for the planet. A landlocked Brummie pining for the sea, bittersweet and fraught with climate anxiety, these songs demand to exist in a physical space and now live music is back, the time for release has come. 

Following on from her much loved 2019 release Chambers, the new record amplifies her exploratory compositions through a new of line-up of vocals & glockenspiel, offkilter synths (Piera Onacko), swarming bass (Dan Cippico) and textural drums (Kai Chareunsy). The quartet blend woozy electronica and jazz sensibilities, inviting listeners to sink into Tee’s world.  

Rosie Tee knows how to make things happen; her band have recorded at Abbey Road Studios and her compositions for professional ensembles & orchestras have been performed internationally. Nominated for Best Jazz Act by the Birmingham Music Awards, the composer/performer has received national airplay on BBC Radio 6 Music and has been described as “a rare idiosyncratic talent” by The Unsigned Guide.  

Earth, Embrace Me In has been a long time coming. Recorded back in 2019 at Megatone Studios in the heart of her Birmingham hometown, it’s been gestating ever since. Already described as “a truly mind-altering release” by Earmilk and “a joy” by BBC Introducing, this EP is a celebration of live performance. The character of each musician in Tee’s quartet bubbles to the surface through her distinctive compositions captured and pressed onto the medium of 12" Vinyl for the first time. 

Each of the six singles are undoubtedly bittersweet, highlighting the beauty and darkness in the place the musical inspiration resides. “Emerald” is a glassy collection of raindrop production and rippling melodies oozing in jazz. With a warbling delay of vocals, the track feels calm and free-flowing, like the movement of the ocean, it’s both beautifully graceful and unpredictable. “Wither” is an ever-changing kaleidoscope of sounds. The rise and fall of her melodies are swept up into a pool of shimmering synths, bringing a stunning electronic element to the table. 

As a record, Earth, Embrace Me In is both cinematic and intimate. Wrapped in a blanket of whirring Rhodes piano (performed by Tom Harris), Tee’s imagist lyrics paint epic landscapes, populated by dissonant synth textures and star-bright glockenspiel. Her classical background shines through, but field recordings and boldly minimalist arrangements lend the songs coarse humanness. The EP flutters throughout with angelic synths, swirling around complex jazz drums and melodies, mixed with unexpected twists and turns lending to Tee’s avant creative nature. 

Bookended with performances from RIOT String Quartet in "Lungs" & "Swept", Earth, Embrace Me In holds the listener’s hand in readiness before lead single Anchors lumbers on to the scene. It’s got more weight than anything heard from Tee previously. Her crystalline vocal rings out as the listener is buffeted by an oppressive, pulsating bassline. Written by Tee while living alone in Rotterdam, Anchors is tinged with jazz and homesickness, clutching for stability in an existential mess. “We wrestle with our skin,” she sings, “so earth, embrace me in.” 

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DIFFUSION October, 2, 2021