From left, James Schroeder, Rosali, David Nance and Kevin Donahue. Rosali’s new album, Bite Down, drops March 22 on Merge Records.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

North Carolina’s Rosali Middleman – a.k.a. Rosali – has sort of become an ex-officio Omahan this past year, having recorded her just-announced album, Bite Down, with a shit-ton of Omahans. In fact, most of David Nance’s band, Mowed Sound, is Rosali’s backing band.

The new album, out March 22 on Merge Records, is a collaboration with Nance, guitarist James Schroeder, and drummer Kevin Donahue, who also worked on her 2021 album, No Medium.

Bite Down was engineered by the esteemed JJ Idt and Schroeder (with Alex Bingham) and produced by Schroeder and Rosali. Among the special guests on the record are Omaha natives Stephen Bartolomei, Phil Schaffart, Matt Carroll & Sara Bertuldo (See Through Dresses), Daniel Knapp (Son, Ambulance, BB Sledge), Karen Pietsch and Margot Erlandson. Non-Omahan Ted Bois handles keys and is member of Dan Bejar’s Destroyer.

In fact, you might have seen Rosali and Mowed Sound open for Destroyer at The Waiting Room back in April 2022. Bejar, it seems, is a big fan of both Rosali and her new album. From the press release:

“Bite Down makes me think about singers and bands that throw themselves hard into the storm, the way the Rosali quartet does. The calm of her voice over top of the band’s raging—it is the emblem of songs that live to put themselves in harm’s way. But it’s not harm. It’s just that you have to play hard to get at these goods. The calm of Rosali’s voice, the straight talk of her inner search vs. the wildness of the band, the sonic storm she rides in on. That’s their sound.

“The Mowed Sound. It’s hard to talk about these last couple Rosali albums without talking about them. They play free and wild and relentlessly melodious. They rip and create space and fill it up with what seems like reckless abandon, but listen carefully or listen for a while and you’ll find them paying real close attention to each other and exactly what the song demands. – Dan Bejar

Check out the video of the album’s first single, “Rewind,” below that features special guest appearances by Nance, Schroeder and Donahue.

Rosali also announced a North American tour that kicks off March 19 in Denver (March dates support Mary Timony (Helium, Ex-Hex)) and wraps up April 20 at O’Leaver’s. You can pre-order the album from Rosali’s Bandcamp page.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.