WYSE - The Rabbit

WYSE

The Rabbit
self-released; 2016

3.3 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Rosie Wyse is an artist from Ontario who just started making music. Her release The Rabbit is a demo quality release that is perhaps the humble beginnings for this artist. It’s an extremely sparse release relying on guitar and vocals. The songs lean towards the dark side and are dissonant. Two artists that come to mind are PJ Harvey and Portishead.

She opens with “Midnight Stroll” which is an instrumental track. This is a five-minute track that should have been no longer than about two minutes. It’s atmospheric and looms over you but about half-way through the song just dissipates and comes back with dissonant guitar notes.

“World-Line” is up next. The song starts with what someone sounds like at a poetry reading. She reads the words with absolutely no levity. The song starts and once the vocals come in the inflection to PJ Harvey’s vocal style is indisputable. As the song progresses she experiments with different vocal styles but there really isn’t a hook. 

“Moment of Dread” produces a feeling that is indicative of the title. The song slowly moves with an impending sense of doom. She sings, “Help me / Die Fast / Help me / Drown Past.” She closes with “Train” which is the highlight of the batch. Despite an awkwardly placed “fuck you” the song had some potential.

Wyse may have some untapped potential but she still has a long way to go before she is on the same level as her obvious inspiration PJ Harvey. There are some decent ideas here but I think Wyse may benefit from working with a producer and other musicians at some point; someone to help guide the songs and have them feel a little more fleshed out along the way.

Tweet