Rosali, aka North Carolina singer/songwriter Rosali Middleman, has announced her Merge debut, Bite Down, due March 22 via her new label home (pre-order). The album was made with David Nance (bass, guitar), James Schroeder (guitar, synth), Kevin Donahue (drums, percussion), the same band Rosali made 2021’s great No Medium with, and it also features Destroyer collaborator Ted Bois on keys. Rosali and James co-produced and mixed it.
“I started writing the majority of Bite Down after moving to North Carolina in the fall of 2021,” Rosali says. “The album traces two cross-country moves, including saying goodbye to my longtime home of Philadelphia. I resolved to bite down on the proverbial bullet; sink my teeth into the flesh and bone of being in the world, devouring the obstacles in my path and gloriously savoring all that is on offer—good and bad. Give me another serving, another moment, another challenge, give me another chance to meet life with insatiable hunger.”
The first single is “Rewind,” which is a wonderful example of the way that Rosali taps into ’70s-era Laurel Canyon folk music in a way that feels instantly timeless. “I want what I do with my time to matter and to reject regret for even the difficult moments are worthy in how they reveal wisdom and initiate growth. I would do it all over again (i.e. rewind) knowing the challenges in life are not meant to be disdained, as much as the joys and pleasures are not meant to be the goal,” she says of the song. “Being present allows us to become more whole and rounded as people, with love being the way to move through. Not just the romantic kind but all the forms of love, desire and excitement that push us through to the next day.” Listen and watch the self-directed video below.
Destroyer’s Dan Bejar also penned a short essay about Bite Down, which reads in part: “For the most part, this is a moodier record than No Medium. It has the same sound of ‘Iʼve traveled through fire to deliver you these songs,’ but it is also quieter, more nocturnal. The quiet dread of staring down an open road, and the excitement of that.” Read it in full below.
Rosali is also opening part of Mary Timony‘s tour, and playing some headlining dates of her own, including NYC’s Knitting Factory at Baker Falls on April 12. Tickets for that show go on sale Thursday (1/11) at 10 AM. All dates are listed below.
Destroyer’s Dan Bejar on Bite Down:
Bite Down makes me think about singers and bands that throw themselves hard into the storm, the way the Rosali quartet does. The calm of her voice over top of the bandʼs raging—it is the emblem of songs that live to put themselves in harmʼs way. But itʼs not harm. Itʼs just that you have to play hard to get at these goods. The calm of Rosaliʼs voice, the straight talk of her inner search vs. the wildness of the band, the sonic storm she rides in on. Thatʼs their sound.
The Mowed Sound. Itʼs hard to talk about these last couple Rosali albums without talking about them. They play free and wild and relentlessly melodious. They rip and create space and fill it up with what seems like reckless abandon, but listen carefully or listen for a while and youʼll find them paying real close attention to each other and exactly what the song demands.
Breezier songs like “On Tonight” and “Rewind” sound like theyʼve fought their way to get to that sense of ease. Maybe thatʼs the Mowed Sound “sound”—hard-won ease. Then add to that Ted Boisʼ patented Rhodes sleaze (see sinuous title track “Bite Down”) steering the record into late-night corners; the incredible “Hills on Fire” (maybe the centerpiece of the album), the guitar-ripping and the singing taking turns in reaching new levels of intimacy. It feels listened-in on, exposed and invented on the spot. It is also simply a staggeringly beautiful song. There are a few of those on the album. In contrast, “My Kind” is a raucous, hand-delivered classic; the band throws
tables over. For the most part, this is a moodier record than No Medium. It has the same sound of “Iʼve traveled through fire to deliver you these songs,” but it is also quieter, more nocturnal. The quiet dread of staring down an open road, and the excitement of that.
Tracklist
1. On Tonight
2. Rewind
3. Hills on Fire
4. My Kind
5. Bite Down
6. Hopeless
7. Slow Pain
8. Is It Too Late
9. Change Is in the Form
10. May It Be on Offer
Rosali — 2024 Tour Dates
Tue. March 19 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
Thu. March 21 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Fest
Sat. March 23 – Seattle, WA @ Clock-Out Lounge *
Sun. March 24 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios *
Tue. March 26 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop *
Wed. March 27 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Atrium *
Thu. March 28 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room *
Fri. March 29 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah *
Sat. March 30 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room *
Sun. March 21 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Dirty Drummer
Tue. April 2 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas
Wed. April 3 – New Orleans, LA @ Siberia
Thu. April 4 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Fri. April 5 – Asheville, NC @ Eulogy
Sat. April 6 – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook
Tue. April 9 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
Wed. April 10 – Kingston, NY @ Tubbyʼs
Thu. April 11 – Boston, MA @ The Rockwell
Fri. April 12 – New York, NY @ Knitting Factory at Baker Falls
Sat. April 13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendaʼs
Mon. April 15 – Toronto, ON @ Monarch Tavern
Thu. April 18 – Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
Sat. April 20 – Omaha, NE @ OʼLeaverʼs
* supporting Mary Timony