For Roxanne de Bastion there is no plan B. Performing since she was 10 and composing since she was 15 years old, she is a musician, heart and soul. Roxanne moved to the UK in 2007. She had her guitar, a suitcase and a one-way ticket. In the 4 years since then, she has gone from playing open mic nights to headlining some of England’s most prestigious venues such as the 100 Club, the Cavern Club and the Barfly.
Roxanne performs regularly in the major music centres, Berlin, London and New York. Berlin’s raw cool, England’s musical legacy and New York’s vibrancy have all coloured her music – it’s honest, quirky and in a genre of its own. Her song writing has been aligned to Dylan, Ray Davies and Regina Spektor; Roxanne’s song “One Morning” was embraced by the BBC, receiving national and regional airplay (Tom Robinson, Martin Winch and Dave Monks).
Roxanne de Bastion released her single ‘Red and White Blood Cells’ on Nomad Songs, last week as a free download. This two-minute track is the first taster from her debut album, which was recorded and produced by Gordon Raphael (The Strokes / Regina Spektor) in Berlin.
‘Red and White Blood Cells’ is raw, bold and in a league of its own. Roxanne’s voice and quirky lyrics soar over pulsating, electric guitar, culminating in an explosion of distortion. Recording this track was as Gordon Raphael put it “buckets of fun” and you can hear it.
Whether it’s about hypochondriac tendencies or the story of a relationship, it’s winding its way into the ears and hearts of the UK. It’s already been picked up by Tom Robinson on BBC6, John Kennedy on XFM and featured on the ‘New to Q’ play list on Q Radio. In Germany the music video is featured as a top newcomer on MTV: bodes well for this first track off the songwriter’s debut album.
We listened to ‘Red And White Blood Cells’ and here’s what we thought:
With a starting note bitten off nerve-rackingly low – and into the lip – the pure voice comes out of the dark, striding brilliantly and taking up the limelight. The voice is kittenish – even when cried. The rhythm includes the wispy mouthed “Sccd” sound from the ‘Danced’ lyric. Then the song boils over into quite a celebration. But it’s over all too early. Like a bloodstain … it died when it touched by the air. Then you will want to experience the pain and the stickiness all over again.
-© Neil_Mach February 2013 -
Link:
http://www.facebook.com/Roxannedebastion
Catch Roxanne de Bastion live @ Old St. Pancras Church on March 8th
The highly talented Roxanne de Bastion is making a long awaited appearance at Old St. Pancras Church, London on March the 8th just after she’s finished her tour of Germany!
Tickets are £5 and doors open at 7:30pm, so make sure you grab yourself a beer or a glass of wine and enjoy the show.
Link to event: http://www.facebook.com/events/413813252046573/
