Rosie Frater-Taylor: Featherweight
Author: Andy Robson
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Rosie Frater-Taylor (g, v) |
Label: |
Cooking Vinyl |
Magazine Review Date: |
March/2024 |
Media Format: |
CD, LP, DL |
Catalogue Number: |
COOK907 |
RecordDate: |
Rec. September 2023 |
If the self-released Bloom was Frater-Taylor’s ‘coming of age’ album, then Featherweight is a realisation that, even at 24, life is a whole lot messier than we may want it to be.
The songs are more complex lyrically and emotionally, while the guitar playing is tougher, notably on the stand-out ‘Give and Take’.
The George Benson influence remains, but you’ll find no ‘Breezin’’ equivalents here. Instead, there’s more distortion, more edge, but no less fluency.
And there’s still those miraculous vocal and guitar harmonisations. Less of them, true, but perhaps more pertinently placed. We’re nearer the Joni of Hejira than Blue, and a whole lot closer to the likes of Madison Cunningham. And maybe, just a tad, we’re getting closer to the real Rosie (and maybe she’s getting closer to her too).
To grow up so publicly is no easy journey, but with Featherweight, Frater-Taylor continues to grow more rounded as both a writer and instrumentalist. Featherweight, but no lightweight.

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