It’s truly something else when an artist can play their original music and have it sound even better live.
I’ve been a long-time fan of singer-songwriter and recording artist Rozzi, who has spent the past year touring and sharing the stage opening up for artists at festivals like Haim and Joss Stone, collaborating on songs with Nile Rodgers and PJ Morton, to celebrating stints on TV shows like “Dollface” and Apple TV’s “The Morning Show.”
While Rozzi has released her songs one-by-one throughout the past year, her latest album berry — a culmination of her past berry and Hymn For Tomorrow EPs — will finally be released in its entirety on Friday, November 18th. While there’s been a handful of gems to have come out throughout the year, there’s a lot of reasons to celebrate this release.
Rozzi is one hell of a vocalist and her talent, mastery and natural virtuosity through her voice is recognized the instant you hear her sing. She has a way of being this powerhouse vocalist with exceptional artistry, yet bares her heart, mind and soul into every song that makes you feel like her best friend, too.
Opening up with songs like “I Can’t Go To The Party” and “June” (a personal favorite) during her recent November show, the songs easily showcase her deep, soulful vocals and R&B-leaning grooves. In softer songs like “fflow,” a love song to which she sings, “Thank God I didn’t meet you 10 years ago, ‘cause now I know I’m ready to flow,” serve as a reminder to the loves in our life that come at the right time. It captures that feeling of innocence and awe and “teenage love” so effortlessly. Even songs like “Consequences” and “Past Life” sound incredibly better performed live and solo with Rozzi at center-stage, even with big names like Nile Rodgers and PJ Morton attached to those.
“Clouds,” the newest song that I have never heard her sing live before this night, has this infectious melody and down-tempo groove that feels so timeless and intoxicating. She sings:
“I’m your sunny day
But how much can I give you
Till all I got is rain
When you drift my way
I just wanna hold you
But you just slip away”
As Rozzi endearingly said to the crowd that night that she gets nervous for her own solo shows because she’s so used to opening up for other artists, it was truly special to be in that room and share that night together — to feel at home with her friends and artists and those who have supported and informed her music all throughout her life.
Rozzi is one of those artists who so clearly does what she does so well, you wonder why she’s not bigger. Her mastery and natural groove and musical instinct is so palpable. She wears her heart on her sleeve through her songs. And while she could do all the runs and riffs with her voice to “show off,” she pulls back. She balances just the right amount to bring a song to life. It’s her intentional choice to “hold back” a little that really highlights her vocal prowess.
I always tell my friends how much Rozzi can take a song that’s so well known and give it new meaning (check “breadwinner”). With all the covers she’s done online with collaborators like stories and Scary Pockets, Rozzi truly makes songs her own. She makes you really understand a song and hear lyrics in a whole new way — and if that isn’t enough to make you fall in love with her as an artist, I don’t know what else to tell you.
Music is a shared experience, and Rozzi knows how to include everyone in it — from her band to the fans to when she’s the one standing at the center of it all. She’s a true collaborator at heart and a gifted star at the same time. And I’ve got a hell of a lot of respect for that.
I will forever stan Rozzi. She knows how to make a night fun, casual and easy-going enough to enjoy good vibes with good company.
Bump her new album berry below. Now. And feel the insides of your body groove, melt, and maybe even feel your heart break into two with the level of emotion she pours into every track.
beauty within 