29 Mar 2024
UsernamePassword

Remember Me? | Join | Recover
Click here to sign in via social networking

Hybrid Rose - EP Review: Cherry

19 Oct 2017 // A review by Paul Goddard

I have always struggled with instrumental music, be it electronica or the rock soundscapes generated by Mogwai. I can listen and enjoy certain tracks but over an album, I tend to miss the dynamic of a vocal. There are people like Kody (aka Silicon) from The Mint Chicks who have morphed well into this sonic soundscape. 

So what’s interesting is the 13 mins or so of this 4 track Cherry EP from Hybrid Rose has been blasting in my headphones on repeat for over 2 hours now!

There is plenty going on here. If I were a keyboard warrior and suddenly my PC could talk, what I am hearing right now would be the sound it would make. Dark hits light. Upbeat slides into melancholy, while all around people are dancing or crying.

Hybrid Rose (Rose Gray) paints pictures with her music. If I had synesthesia, blue would be melting with black and there would be explosions of yellow and white but definitely no beige.

Each of the four tracks on the Cherry EP stands out on their own merit, my favourite being Rocket due to its pace and energy.

Hailing from Blenheim you can catch the small town vibe and isolation that contributes to all good music with soul. I feel escapism, optimism and defeat. Good music is meant to make you feel.

I never expected to be moved this way by music without words. The Cherry EP is being released today (Friday 20 October 2017). Do yourself a favour and buy it. Play it at ear crushing levels in your headphones or better still blast it through a noise control neighbour bothering PA until you get told to shut it down.

My eyes are open. They feel colour.


Review written by Paul Goddard

 

About Hybrid Rose

Citing a range of musical influences from Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) to Lady Gaga and Marina Diamandis, to Coldplay, Blenheim resident Rose Gray (aka Hybrid Rose) self-produces tunes that vary from chiptune ditty Video Games to the poppy, dance-y Pixel and distorted dubstep of Expectations.

Her influences go beyond music, however; the opening chords to Pixels came to her while watching an episode of Adventure Time for example. She also cites vintage design and graphics as an influence, especially in terms of the visuals she produces alongside her songs. While Gray doesn’t consider herself a political person, she says she’s very passionate about making change.

Her musical character is a little more involved however, and the music is occasionally politically inspired. Hybrid Rose, an electronic character. An infectious virus in your ears, an addiction you cannot quit.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Hybrid Rose

Releases

Mutation
Year: 2023
Type: Album
HyperKunt
Year: 2022
Type: Album
Ultrakunt
Year: 2022
Type: Album
Shapeshifter
Year: 2021
Type: Album
Awkwardly Eccentric
Year: 2019
Type: Album
Warhol
Year: 2018
Type: Album
Cherry
Year: 2017
Type: EP
Cosmic
Year: 2017
Type: Album

Other Reviews By Paul Goddard

Skitch Hiker - Single Review: Slippery Wet Handshake
30 Jun 2023 // by Paul Goddard
Wow.Just when you have given up on music and banging your head against a brick wall wondering why Taylor Swift is more popular than toilet roll during a pandemic something like this comes along.
Read More...
Retro Valley - Single Review: Backseat Lovers
19 May 2023 // by Paul Goddard
Right from the opening bars of Backseat Lovers by Hamilton-based Retro Valley it is clear that this song is pure class.This 3-minute tune is a next-level lesson in how to create, perform and produce a pop/indie classic.
Read More...
Murmur Tooth and Lars Moston - Album Review: No Time To Explain
19 May 2023 // by Paul Goddard
Collaborations can work. Sometimes they do most of the time they don't.
Read More...
Album Review: Sex Dad's Greatest Hits: The Very Best Of Sex Dad
27 Dec 2022 // by Paul Goddard
Feeling bloated and underwhelmed. Listening to mainstream radio in the car as I left my phone at home.
Read More...
Marrow Neck - EP Review: Made Up
23 Nov 2022 // by Paul Goddard
Sitting here in a very wet and cold, rainy UK watching the oldies falling out of the local Wetherspoons where they have been on the piss since 9am (yep the UK is weird it's only the old people who can afford to get pissed all day).I am reflecting on the past as I listen to the latest EP Made Up from Auckland-based Mark Hannington.
Read More...
Amanaki - EP Review: Tempest
03 Nov 2022 // by Paul Goddard
Hardcore.It tends to mean extreme.
Read More...
Big Scout - Album Review: Council Sport
18 Aug 2022 // by Paul Goddard
It’s finally here. The first Long Player from Blenheim noisy buggers Big Scout.
Read More...
Memory Foam - Album Review: Steel Magnolias
28 Jun 2022 // by Paul Goddard
Did you know that Memory Foam creates a matrix of cells through which air can move? Me neither.
Read More...
View All Articles By Paul Goddard

NZ Top 10 Singles

  • WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS (WAIT FOR YOUR LOVE)
    Ariana Grande
  • BEAUTIFUL THINGS
    Benson Boone
  • END OF BEGINNING
    Djo
  • LOSE CONTROL
    Teddy Swims
  • TEXAS HOLD 'EM
    Beyonce
  • STICK SEASON
    Noah Kahan
  • PRAISE JAH IN THE MOONLIGHT
    YG Marley
  • CARNIVAL
    Kanye West And Ty Dolla $ign
  • SATURN
    SZA
  • LOVIN ON ME
    Jack Harlow
View the Full NZ Top 40...
muzic.net.nz Logo
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report a ProblemReport A Problem