Hey Rosetta! - "Seeds"

Artist: Hey Rosetta!
Album: Seeds
Label: Sonic Records
Release Date: February 15, 2011
Review by: Sean Kayden

Canadian indie-driven enthusiasts, “Hey Rosetta!” return after three years with their third studio album, “Seeds”. It’s a poignant, thought-provoking record that will pacify your tiresome mind and mend the wounded heart. It’s vastly demanding to keep up with the dozens of bands that seem to magically materialize each and everyday. However, it’s truly a blessing to discover the ones that really resonate with you. It’s an amazing sensation to be able to identify yourself with a record that seamlessly understands everything you’re going through. Lead singer, Tim Baker stated in an interview, “…the songs are seeds ... they’re these little things –- four and five minute things — but they have the ability to grow in your brain and be far more meaningful than just what they are." I whole-heartedly agree with him because “Seeds” is just that. An album that will get inside you, become you, and navigate you through this world you’re trying oh-so-ever hard to break though.

Clocking in at just less than 50 minutes, all eleven tracks augment as they progress from start to finish. “Hey Rosetta!” have deliberately created a united catharsis. Layered strings, horns, mandolins, pianos, and trumpets all make a delightful appearance on the album. Not everything works perfectly, but there’s enough staggering power to satisfying the accessible music listener. The lyrics are about the perennial life on the road, dissolved relationships, loneliness, but also new hope, enlightenment and fresh beginnings. If you can open your mind, let your guard down and allow “Seeds” to gracefully seep into your soul, you’ll walk away embarking on a new day with full of possibilities waiting to be conquered.

This is a pleasing to the ear, gentle rock album that can become the anthem to one’s life. Listening to any album merely once won’t be enough. There’s no exception this time around either. One must permit “Seeds” to fully engulf their own entity in order to find any significant fulfillment. Catchy yet multifaceted arrangements, towering melodies and stunning imagery within the words tenderly sung, there’s something here for any fan of the indie rock affiliation. In the song, “Seventeen”, Baker with such emphasis and heart, belts out the words, “we're always on the edge of something bigger than this; cause we're always on the edge; we're always on the edge of some impossible trick.” I tend to side with what he’s saying. We’re all grasping for something slightly out of reach, but with great persistence and dedication, we can get there. I like to believe it’s why we get out of bed each morning. The impossible will soon enough become the possible if we never compromise on the act of simply settling for second-rate and mediocrity. The album title may be called “Seeds” and it’s emblematic of what we are - tiny seeds from the start yet we all have the ability to cultivate into something extraordinary. If one listens intently, this album can be a guiding and nurturing light on your never-ending adventure.

Key Tracks: “Seeds”, “Young Glass”, “Seventeen”
Grade: 7.5 out of 10

Published on April 2, 2011 by Mountain Views News.
http://mtnviewsnews.com/v05/htm/n14/p09.htm