Bess Rogers - Out Of The Ocean

Bess Rogers - Out Of The Ocean
2011, Bess Rogers

Some people write great melodies.  Others craft lyrics that leave you breathless.  There are even some in the music world who build arrangements that go beyond day-to-day to comprehension.  Any one of these talents can make an artist a household name.  Any two may well make them a legend.  On her prior EP, Bess Rogers Presents: Bess Rogers, we found an artist who showed flashes of these types of brilliance.  Fourteen months later, Rogers returns with Out Of The Ocean, making unbelievable strides as an artist, and transforming herself quickly from a singer/songwriter with big talent and tremendous potential into a maturing, brilliant artist you simply can’t ignore.

Rogers has built her reputation on several fronts.  The Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist has been involved in numerous projects over the years, playing nearly every style of music imaginable.  A few years back she was picked to be Ingrid Michaelson’s guitarist, and has earned a well-deserved reputation as a dynamic performer with a flair for the dramatic and the technical chops to back it all up.  Rogers began building her name as a solo performer through her web presence and technical savvy, but it’s the music that speaks for Rogers.

Out Of The Ocean opens with "One Step Free", the song snippet that gives the album its name. Rogers makes an impressive start here, although it may leave you wishing she'd finished the song. "Standing Tall" opens with a plaintive verse that resolves into a beautiful, lush and lustrous pop chorus. Roger's voice is pure ear candy for those with rich musical tastes, and she bends and shapes the melody line here like a true artist. The song itself is one of safety and confidence in love - a nice change of pace from the glut of starry-eyed pop songs and anguish filled navel gazing ballads that fill up the airwaves. "Weak Link" is an anachronistic invitation from one who views her own imperfections as the perfect complement to the object of her desires better qualities. There's a romantic, tongue-in-cheek element here that's charming, and the full, active arrangement makes it a pop gem.

Rogers bemoans the relegation of romance and attraction to chemical processes on "Math And Science", yet indicates a continued willingness to play her part. Rogers draws you in here with a chorus that simply will not get out of your head. "Anchor" goes up-tempo, running along at a gallop while Rogers keeps pace with a flawless vocal line. The melody line here is brilliant, and once again, Rogers will stay in head for days. Don't be surprised if this is a break out hit. Rogers slows things down a bit with "In The Waves", a utopian invitation from a mermaid to a broken man that parallels immersion in water and falling in love with artful delicacy. Rogers creates a gorgeous sonic landscape here with layered voices and synth over a sparse arrangement. The song closes in haunting fashion, fading away into the depths.

 

Water And Dirt" is another wonderfully catchy pop/rock rumination on love. Rogers plays with the theme of elements, and the almost hopeless part we play in the human dramas of love throughout the album, but here she creates a bit of musical and lyrical magic that's impossible to ignore. "The Fittest" is another example of the sort of diluvian, edgy pop that Rogers is capable of creating. The arrangement is beautiful and lush, but with a backbone as hard as iron. Rogers rocks out on "I'll Be Gone", throwing down the gauntlet in a relationship where the sharing is no longer equal. This is done not in angry tones, but in a driven melody with honest lyrics that are more intelligently questing than spiteful. "Second Chance" is the most stripped-down and personal of the offerings on Out Of The Ocean, showing off Rogers' voice in a more open arrangement that reveals its simple beauty in broad daylight. Similarly, "Brick By Brick" sticks to an unfettered musical formula, whereby Rogers explores the minutiae of relationships in affecting and intelligent imagery. Rogers builds the intensity of the arrangement back to where she started in a conveyance of the building process, before falling back to the simple strains of a guitar string that fades as if leaving a story in progress.

 

Bess Rogers showed herself to be a special talent with her debut EP, Bess Rogers Presents: Bess Rogers, but Out Of The Ocean is light years ahead of first effort, showing a fast-maturing talent for melody, lyrics and song construction, all wrapped up in a voice that resonates in your mind. Rogers shares the love of lush arrangements apparent in the work of Sarah McLachlan, as well as the willful, independent narrative lyrics found in Aimee Mann's work. This all comes together in a fashion that is comfortingly familiar yet excitingly original. Very quietly, and without warning, Bess Rogers will knock your socks off. Out Of The Ocean is a Wildy’s World Certified Desert Island Disc, and figures to be featured heavily in year-end lists.

 

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Bess Rogers at www.bessrogers.com or www.myspace.com/bessrogers.

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Check out with current tour-mate Allison Weiss in the first episode of "Van Jams", below:

Wildy's World Top 60 Albums of 2010: #4

....#4

4. Bess Rogers – Bess Rogers Presents Bess Rogers
Bess Rogers is the sort of songwriter who turns your expecations upside down, creating gem stones out of the emotional grist of life.  This is just the beginning for Rogers; expect big things from her in the future, particularly if Bess Rogers Presents Bess Rogers is any indication.

Bess Rogers - Bess Rogers Presents: Bess Rogers

Bess Rogers - Bess Rogers Presents: Bess Rogers
2010, Hubbub!

A few years back Ingrid Michaelson saw years of hard work turn into overnight success because of social media. Somewhere along that path Michaelson had need for a lead guitarist. Through friends she found out about Brooklyn guitarist Bess Rogers. Rogers has been on the road with Michaelson ever since. You might call this series of events serendipity. Rogers loves all styles of music, playing almost everything under the sun. Aside from a solo career and playing lead for Michaelson she is also currently the front woman of The Flux Capacitors and plays guitar and keyboards for the electro-prog outfit The Age Of Rockets. Rogers is well known in Indie circles for her instrumental work, her songwriting and her voice, but name recognition has largely eluded her outside of distinct musical circles. That all changes on September 21, 2010, when Rogers releases Bess Rogers Presents: Bess Rogers. While just a 5-song EP, Bess Rogers Presents: Bess Rogers is the sort of musical calling card that moves an artist up the ladder of notoriety by leaps and bounds. Accordingly, Bess Rogers is the Wildy's World Artist of the Month for September, 2010.

Bess Rogers runs in a circle of musicians who trade musical styles like kids used to trade baseball cards. This melting pot of musical styles helps to explain the distinct pop sensibility that Rogers embeds in each song. But Rogers doesn't just make you want to dance; you'll find yourself getting deep into the lyrical pool that Rogers creates as well, as she spins melodies with a voice that's party every-woman and part angel. Comparisons to Regina Spektor and Juliana Hatfield abound, but there are elements of Ani DiFranco and Rachel Sage in Rogers' musical DNA as well. Rogers opens with "Come Home", an incredibly catchy number that in a perfect world would light up the pop charts for weeks on end. Rogers has penned a chorus that you'll be singing along with the very first time you hear it, and delivers the vocals with such an unaffected air that you can't help but instantly like her. It's a brilliant bit of songwriting. "What We Want" plays around the edges of greener grasses with the ultimate realization that all is well. It's another catchy tune with a great melody, even if Rogers does rely a bit heavily on repetition in the chorus.

Rogers writes without filters on "Good Enough", an exploration of turning yourself inside out to capture someone you'll never have. The contemplative, peaceful nature of the song hides a deep-seated anger and frustration that finally explodes in a dark, cloudy guitar exposition in the song's closing moments. Rogers doesn't need to go over the top to get her message across here, relying on subtle shifts in attitude and aspect and bare hints of irony and anger that lead to an explosion that is both less and more than you might expect. "Favorite Day" is a punk/folk/pop anthem in the form of a love song. Rogers reminisces about the moment when a relationship moved from fun to real for her. It's a tremendous exposition of the moment that catchy but affectionate and full of reverie. Rogers started out with brilliant pop, and closes with brilliance of another kind. "All In Good Fun" explores the emotional shrapnel of a relationship where she was left high and dry. It's a tremendous moment of vulnerability, written in raw emotional turns from someone who is perhaps at peace with what happened but still trying to clean up the mess it left behind. "All In Good Fun" may not have the pure pop feel to it that "Come Home" possesses, but it's an amazing song that could survive the snares of pop radio purgatory and win spins based on popular demand.

Songwriting can be likened to the process of creating gem stones. Each stone has its own characteristics based on the elements involved and the pressures applied to the process. Songwriting relies on basic elements as well (notes, words, rhythms), and the pressures applied are a combination of musical experience and exposure, personal experience, emotional makeup, etc. It seems likely that Rogers' vast musical experiences and competencies create an unusual creative tension in her songwriting process, and the emotional honesty of her songwriting rounds the rough edges that every gem is born with. Some songwriters create quartz; some create opals. On Bess Rogers Presents: Bess Rogers, Rogers creates diamonds. Bess Rogers Presents: Bess Rogers is a Wildy's World Certified Desert Island Disc.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Bess Rogers at http://www.bessrogers.com/ or www.myspace.com/bessrogers.  Bess Rogers Presents: Bess Rogers drops on September 21, 2010 and is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.