Rosa Bordallo (f/k/a Manett) is a singer-songwriter and a Chamorro from the island of Guam. She has been living in New York City since the age of 19, and has written, recorded, and released several albums and EPs as a solo artist and as a member of the indie rock band, cholo. Her second full-length solo album, ‘Isidro’, will be released by Bad Auntie Records in January 2025. ‘I Feel Numb‘ is a richly layered song – more in the Mercury Rev / Flaming Lips ballpark than the twangier end of Americana. The album’s songs came together a couple of years ago – “I wrote these songs in 2021 and 2022, in the shadow of the pandemic and New York City’s recovery. I was grieving personal tragedies as well as the collective loss. It was the realization that my ancestors survived their own catastrophic near-demise that gave me perspective. I’m a survivor. We all are.”
‘I Feel Numb‘ came to Bordallo as a reaction to world events: “I wrote this song around the time of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. My friends helped me translate the last verse into other languages. The Russian translation is courtesy of a friend who grew up in Kharkiv. Something can be so awful, it defies any explanation. Music has a way of transmuting that. The guitar solo might be my favorite of any I’ve ever written. One of my inspirations for this song was ‘Miss Sarajevo’ by Passengers.”
And she’s right – you do need to hear that guitar solo.
