Night’s Cross’ is a nocturne that is fundamentally loss, love, and mystery. Rosetta West’s ‘Night’s Cross’ takes the listener through an emotional journey of losing, loving, and their life’s mysteries. The band has incorporated blues, classic rock, and folk which makes their sound somewhat tragic yet empowering at the same time. Each piece is so full of life and powerful, making the listeners feel like the album has a story to tell and emotions to portray. The album opens with “Save Me”, a song with an urgent beat, rich and desperate without any sign of redemption. Vocals are raw, plaintive lyrics that blend with the rhythms seamlessly into one. “Suzie” comes next with a hint of melancholy. Folk-inspired and more balanced, it strays away from its predecessor.
“Dora Lee” comes next with heavy guitar-led rock in an energetic yet hypnotic manner. Powerful guitar work builds up with a steady beat in a beguine fashion. “Diana” brings the flow back to the soft beats infused with light poetry. The words to the song leave the listener in a trans. Rosetta West transitions again to dark romance with “You’ll Be The Death Of Me”, which begins gradually and builds up to a score full of intensity. The band’s versatile nature comes forward with the seemingly random “Alligator Farm”, an unpredictable tune set in a playful, eerie environment. Listeners settle in for a slower pace around the moody, atmospheric sound of “Cold Winter Moon”. Together the lyrics pose self-reflection’s most intimate and lonely frame. With raw emotion, “Desperation” effortlessly follows. Its unmasked arrangement only gives more reason as to why the words’ hurt is simply unavoidable.
“Oh Death” is the most eerie song on the album. Its folk-leaning traditions are in a remarkably uncreative approach. “Ready To Go” slightly boosts the mood by incorporating a defiant level of tenderness and sorrow intertwined. Before the final stanza of the album, “Underground Again”, we are graced by “Baby Doll”, which stuns with a gentle and soothing, almost lullaby-like touch. The visuals, when meditating on this song, are powerful and introspective yet so comforting and give a sense of completion to everything. Without a single doubt, ‘Night’s Cross’ is an album overflowing with bittersweetness. Every note lingers far longer than the last which is the beauty of it all. A short-lived fantasy. As always, Rosetta West shows us that music doesn’t have to be overshadowed by reason or deep feelings to be motivating and captivating, and his album is the perfect example of it.
