Mad Hatter Review for ‘It’s Only Thursday’
7th August 2019 (VISIT ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE)
Rose & Cloud is the stage name of Staffordshire Poet Laureate Emily Galvin and professional musician John MacLeod. Their love-child, made up of music and words, came together earlier this year and the pair have been touring stages, festival grounds and open mic spaces around the West Midlands and beyond since then. Coupling heartfelt poetry with atmospheric instrumentals, the pair have come together to create something touching, unique and – I genuinely believe – quite good for the soul.
Their debut EP, It’s Only Thursday, is made up of five tracks – some of which were longstanding favourites of mine, and some entirely new. ‘Slow Jazz’, which sees Galvin borrow from the subtitles of La La Land, is a brutal but beautiful introspective look at a terrible, terrible day, the type where: ‘you can’t quite explain the sudden downpour of blackened mascara tears’. MacLeod captures the melancholy with understated instrumentals that sit neatly between Galvin’s verses, and this sets a strong tone for the rest of the release.
‘If You’re Listening To This Then, Yes, It Is About You’ shows a harsher side to both artists. While Galvin spins an offensive tale of conceited associates – who may or may not be fictional, who’s to say – MacLeod is given the opportunity to increase the ferocity of his musical contribution here, delivering harsh but complementary sounds that perfectly match the curt delivery of the poetry on this track. The two deliver a perfect mix of light and shade across the tracks that follow too, culminating in the beautiful ‘A What If’ that closes the EP. With soft instrumentals and gentle but provocative words, this track is the perfect end to what is, as a whole, a brilliant debut from this pair.
It’s Only Thursday delivers a beautiful taste of things to come from Rose & Cloud, I’m sure of it. Galvin’s words are heartfelt but they’re given a new dimension by MacLeod who lifts them up a notch in terms of their auditory delivery, with both poetry and instrumentals proving a joy to listen to – individually, of course, but when put together they make for something special.
The EP is available (just £3 for a digital download and £5 for a physical copy!) on Bandcamp now so if you’re looking for something to tug on your heartstrings in the lead-in to the weekend, then click right here and strap in.
Written by: Charley Barnes
Published: 7th August 2019