Here are the gentle rhythms and lilting melody of the new single from Boston-based singer-songwriter Talia Rose. ‘Columbus, Ohio’ flows with melodic currents and fluent song-craft. Over Chris Sartori’s warm bass and Gen Yoshimura’s shimmering percussion, Talia Rose’s understated, engaging vocal performance is at the song’s heart. It’s particularly engaging when she harmonises with Heather Scott, who also supplies additional guitar. Towards the end, Rose delivers an absolutely delightful solo, which is one of the song’s elements that lingers after listening. The video, recorded at Dimension Sound Studios in Jamaica Plain, MA, gives us a glimpse of this group of talented players at work.
Rose’s words are sensitive and tinged with a subtle, weary sadness: “Oh, maybe there is somewhere else I ought to be, // And I’ve never been to Columbus, Ohio, // Why, oh, why do I already know // It’s more like home than this?” She says of the song’s lyrical themes: “I dreamt up the lyrics to ‘Columbus, Ohio’ after being prompted by a teacher to write a song about a place I’d never been before. I scanned a map of the Americas, and quickly got stuck on the rhythmic and rhyming possibilities of the words ‘Columbus, Ohio.’ Without doing any research into the city itself, I wondered what it might be like to live there – completely uprooting myself and moving to a city I knew nothing about. I engaged in the fantasy that I might meet the perfect life partner in this new city – ‘Someone I could walk my dog with,’ (I do not, and will not ever own a dog.) As most of my songwriting leans toward the intensely personal, ‘Columbus, Ohio’ gave me the opportunity to step into someone else’s shoes, and think through a series of decisions I’d never make myself. To this day, I know virtually nothing about the city of Columbus, Ohio, and I don’t think I’ll ever go there. It has to remain a mystery!”
Talia Rose is known for her love of modern finger-style guitar and, along with perfect vocal harmonies, intricate acoustic guitar arrangements are a feature of her songwriting. ‘Columbus, Ohio’ is the first single from Rose’s forthcoming album, ‘Carry it Closely’, which was produced by Jack Broza and mixed by Don Mitchell (Darlingside). Look out for it on 20th August 2024.
