Rose Kemp is, on paper, a most interesting alt-rock propositions. The daughter of former Steeleye Span glamour couple Maddy Prior and Rick Kemp, Rose is a former touring member of folk-rockers The Oyster Band who now writes and records her own material as well as belonging to a clutch of avant-rock bands, including improvisational weirdos Jeremy Smoking Jacket and doom metallers VILNA.
But while Kemp may seem to be an old head on 21-years-young shoulders, the narrow scope of her songwriting
here belies her youth. Given the nature of her material and sound of her voice, comparison with PJ Harvey is unavoidable, especially given Kemp’s fondness for quiet-loud dynamics. But while big single ‘Violence’’s quiet bits may be more delicate and the loud bits more discordant than those of ‘Sheela Na Gig’, there’s probably only Rose and her parents who think this is groundbreaking stuff.
The smacked-out likes of the excellent ‘Orange Juice’ suggest big potential, but while there’ll always be a market for menacing, minimalist indie gloom, the album as a whole would have benefited from some of the improvisational doom metal oddity that Kemp currently saves for her side projects.
