The Rosewood Thieves
Issue #34
Lonesome EP (self-released)
By Caroline Evans
Published: December 1st, 2007 | 3:55pm
The Rosewood Thieves’ sound the way homemade root beer tastes: fresh but familiar. Last year’s From the Decker House EP, the group’s debut release, displayed a reverence for the electrified blues and folk-rock of the ’60s combined with a youthful energy and undeniably strong talent for songwriting. But From the Decker House was at times over-accessorized — the upbeat rhythms and ornate instrumentals slightly eclipsed the lyricism of the songs.
On their latest release, Lonesome EP, the Rosewood Thieves strip down to the bare essentials, revealing mellower acoustic ballads framed by gentle acoustic fingerpicking, the faint hum of an organ, the warm nostalgia of pedal steel, and the inspired poignancy of classic songwriters like Dylan, Harrison, and Davies. On “Honey, Stay Awhile,” as singer Erick Jordan reflects on the loss of a lover, he notes that in the city “no matter who you’re with, you always feel alone”.
This EP displays a band settling comfortably into its own sound, and if the Rosewood Thieves have done that much with six songs, imagine what they’ll do with a full-length.
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