Rodes Rollins first made a splash in EDM three years ago featuring on Branko’s “Out of Sight (So Right)”, Rollins has since carved a name for herself somewhere between the realms of textured indie pop and western noir. Perhaps no release thus far pronounces the dichotomy between these sonic landscapes Rollins finds herself traversing than in her new A/B side, Velvet.
Comprised of two tracks—”Mystery Man” and “Wrong Turn”—each song proposes a separate side of Rollins’ songwriting coin to listeners. The former is layered with a charming murk somewhat reminiscent of a spaghetti western soundtrack, meant to captivate with its ethereal mystique. Rollins wrote a short story surrounding the concept of her “Mystery Man” character before taking choice moments from it to condense into song. The latter takes a more autobiographical turn for Rollins, swaying through a nostalgic arrangement before descending into a psychedelic twist towards the end. It is the type of track that is capable of making an instant connection with an audience based purely on the relatability of the story alone, let alone the indelible nature of its hooks.
Rollins tells PopMatters, “Velvet is an A/B Side that showcases two stories of mine – one fictional, about a cowboy on the run, and one, personal about the end of a relationship. I wanted to showcase an even more pronounced ‘songwriter’ type sound on these two songs. Something that felt very western and poetic. I turned to a dark country sound when thinking about the production of these two songs. ‘Mystery Man’ reflects more of a Southwestern country sound, whereas, ‘Wrong Turn’ feels perhaps a little more like a classic American ballad (until the end of course). I’ve been drawn to these dark Americana sounds for a long time now, and I feel like this A/B Side is very reflective of the influences inspiring my writing today and for future projects of mine.”
Velvet was produced by one of Rollins’ inspirations, Noah Georgeson (Rodrigo Amarante, Joanna Newsom). Following its release, she plans on touring throughout the U.S. and Mexico come springtime with a new EP set for release come early 2019.