Rose Melberg Issue #28

Cast Away the Clouds (Double Agent)

By Anna Breshears
Published: June 1st, 2006 | 12:08pm

There’s no question about it: Rose Melberg is the goddess of “twee” pop. She has ruled her kingdom with pillowy vocals and melancholy-lite, sad-and-sweet melodies since the mid-’90s after trading punk-pop (Tiger Trap) for jangle-pop (Go Sailor, the Softies). We last heard from Melberg in 2000, when the Softies’ Holiday in Rhode Island was released. In the past six years, she moved to Canada from Oregon, got hitched, and started a family. Cast Away the Clouds, Melberg’s first proper solo album (a compilation of one-off duets and solo tracks was released seven years ago) proves she still has a perfectly tuned ear for romantic, rainy day tunes.
Melberg begins Cast by reflecting, “There is nothing quite so fine as sitting in this patch of sunshine / Something of my own / A place to sing alone,” while a chorus of adorable ooo’s and unobtrusive acoustic guitar and piano leisurely roll from verse to verse. The song develops into a narrative about patching a broken heart, but its opening lines also speak to Melberg’s confidence in recording on her own. The compositions of Cast are soft and comfy, with nary a drum to be heard.
“Irene” is one of the record’s best, with wispy-smooth vocals just hovering over the rich though subdued instrumentation. Like most of Melberg’s output, it’s completely gorgeous in an effortless, breezy fashion. Cast comes to an end with a near whisper on “Each New Day,” a dreamy lullaby capable of soothing the most restless of babies (and even a parent or two).
Cast Away the Clouds doesn’t differ much from other Softies material, but Melberg creates pop so enchanting, it doesn’t matter whether she does it on her own or with others; It’s always a delightful listen.