Introducing Katherine de Rosset
The dawning of Katherine de Rosset; press photos courtesy of the artist.
The people's history of the world is one of development, displacement, conflict, dialogues, theses/syntheses and countless narrative cycles of change and renewal. Embarking on new beginnings comes with new realizations — found like miraculous clear bursts of light in a flammable world of smoke, soot and smog. The tumult and abrupt events brought about by adversities contend with obstacles toward establishing the safety and abode of home; often serving as the unexpected catalysts that begets adventures and exoduses. Thus is the story of Katherine de Rosset; the new incarnation of DIY pop magnate / impresario Kate Davis, sharing the true life tale of a crescent moon shaped journey from the Pacific Northwest and down to the cradle of the southwest creative circuits on the debut release — The Tower.
Katherine de Rosset beckons the listener to enter to the record’s towering ziggurat stronghold with the opener, "Flowing Into Joy". Her path from Portland, to Los Angeles, before landing upon Austin, TX is celebrated like navigating a turbulent tributary channel toward a sanctuary emanating beneath golden bright beams of sunshine. The world and its place in the galaxy are observed objectively spinning splendidly on its axis through songs like "The Star" and "In the World and Yet Above", that bridges coral chamber leanings with a cosmic affinity. Synths are expertly enlisted to lend toward a mystic and mesmerizing experience felt throughout the entirety of the album. Dialogues about the importance of identity and being seen are explored on "Do You See What I Am?" to the planetary diamond pop adornments of "Her Body Made of Stars" that recalls the boss music from an 80s 8-bit video game crossed with a modern-Elizabethan interstellar siren sonnet approach.
Katherine documents journeys like solar planetary intersections and obfuscations as featured on “The Eclipse", before venturing further into the mystic corridors of "91818" with soft breathy whispers of confrontational reckoning. Levels of the geographic, personal, creative, spiritual and emotional traverse throughout the The Tower’s elaborate, expansive and ornate musical mansions, banqueting halls and ballrooms. The closing couplet of "Sacred" and "Resonate" slowly steps through the tall stories of opulent electro-palaces, along with exploring the album’s own outlaying rose fields and stone fountains of hope, home and heart. The Tower stands as a place and point of refuge that provides shelter from the weariness of the world, a place of love, inspiration, empowerment, legacy and strength.
In Katherine’s own words:
This album is dedicated to the women who came before me. For their continuous love, grace and guidance.
The following is the ballad of Katherine de Rosset penned by the artist:
In the fall of 2018, I moved from my home in Portland, OR to Los Angeles, CA. After being in LA for one month with my sister and partner, we learned that the house where we lived was being sold and we had a month to find someplace new. It was an uncertainty that was hard to face after having just settled in. These two months in LA was when a massive clearing began. Sparks that turned to flame, changing my inner landscape forever. I turned to meditation, tarot and my music for guidance, centering and healing. It wasn't until six days before our move out date that my destination came to me in a quiet moment, Austin, TX. In less than a week I had a place to live, a rented car, and a plan to leave my sister and partner and embark on an independent soul-centered journey.
It is here in Austin where I have done the deepest healing. In place of the burnt remains of my old structure grew a beautiful wilderness. Lush, free and true. I reconnected with nature, finding strength, stability and a chance to breathe deeply with a wise tree. I looked into the water within when I sat by the creek and noticed how everything is ever changing and transforming. Even when it looks still, there is movement. There is joy in impermanence.
Now when I return, I can sense the knowing that has always been there, weaving golden threads through the past while holding me in the present, a graceful guiding light along the path. I hear each word come through as a soft inner voice, echoing out from the dark chambers within. The Tower is the force that clears what is no longer able to stay, it's a turning point. And within that clearing is sacred ground for the journey of coming home to oneself.
I hope that you can feel the love and the joy, from my heart to yours.
The Tower is available via Bandcamp, Spotify and everywhere.
Cover art for The Tower courtesy of Katherine de Rosset.