TROTH – An Unfinished Rose – LP – Vinyl

LP – Strictly Limited Edition Black Vinyl.

Slowly yet firmly blooming into focus, An Unfinished Rose is the new album from Australian duo Troth. This is their first since relocating to Hobart, Tasmania and their introduction to Night School Records. With a detailed web of past releases on labels A Colourful Storm, Mammas Mysteriska Jukebox, Knekelhuis and Bowmans own Altered States Tapes imprint, An Unfinished Rose is the groups most realised and composed work thus far. While still drawing on the improvisatory and DIY practices that informed Troths beginnings, it points to a new incarnation of the duos music; an intentional language emerging from the fog of obfuscation and mists of uncertainty.

Over these 9 meditations on change, acceptance, renewal and rebirth, An Unfinished Rose finds Amelia Besseny and Cooper Bowman peeling back some of the roughhewn architecture that defined their earlier releases to reveal a masterful – if auto-didactic – use of space and melody. Composition and improvisation compliment and feed each other throughout, with locked-loop earworms providing the springboard for lines of clarinet or synth melody, and the negative space between chord clusters giving ample room for Bessenys most confident vocal performances to date. Shaving off a little of the defining dissonance and tape compression of old reveals Troths music in radiant daylight, humbly accepting of its place in the world while yearning for better, more sympathetic modes of living. Leaning more heavily on acoustic instrumentation and post-production processes than previously, the result is a transcendent body of work infused with an almost zen-like presence.

Troths music exists in the border between forming and becoming, its goal to project a kind of preternatural beauty, leaving interpretation open to the listener. Field recordings, happenstance and improvisation may provide seeds for the duos compositions, particularly on Side A, but there is a deft touch of songcraft on show. Loam Loom Leaf Litter opens An Unfinished Rose, directly referencing natural cycles of life, death and regeneration, before the blissed-out drum machine groove of Gold Plum continues a discussion concerning the totality of nature and ones place in it. Bessenys vocal, swelling like an ocean churn in duet with itself is adorned with synthesised harp and a revolving synth pattern, conjuring plumes of medieval smoke. Thistles rounded, bass-heavy drums, nodding to the vast echo of dub, is a relatively new terrain for Troth. Its propulsive and thumping, pulsing with a meaning and symbolism consistent with Troths past work, referenced overtly in Besseys lyrics – Say it too much and it loses its meaning…. Similarly, the sprawling modern-classical suite, Tides Reflected In Her Eyes, is intentional in its lyrical themes while traversing new ground, revelling in layers of bowed cello and vocal intonations.

Side Bs 4 tracks feel like Troths most thoroughly accessible and affecting music to date. Leaning into their own detoured version of Synth Pop, Cocoonist explores downtempoisms via a crunchy low frequency synth, and dream-like, fuzzy trip-hop modalities, not unlike Besseny and Bowmans other group, The Blisks. Following on, Myrtle Mystes is an open and searching DIY pop song, forged out of drum machine, bass guitar and cello. (An) Unfinished Roses title-track is a clear stand-out, built upon an evocative rhythm sample that appears to change emotional resonance with each undulating repetition. Its cascading waves of affect, interjected with a subtle breeze of synth, bowed instrumentation and soaring, densely-layered vocals.

An Unfinished Rose is enveloping, warm, forgiving. Difficult, yet retaining a unique beauty. Troths music aims to celebrate the duo;s shared experiences of being in the world, despite the complexity often surrounding us all. Theirs is a message of hope and perseverance, learning and patience.

Tracklist:

1. Loam Loom Leaf Litter
2. Gold Plum
3. Thistle
4. Tides Reflected In Her Eyes
5. Cocoonist (prelude)
6. Cocoonist
7. Myrtle Mystes
8. Unfinished Rose
9. Deep Umbe