‘Interstellar’ by Frankie Rose

They weren’t kidding with the whole “new Frankie Rose” spiel. The grandiose title track to her upcoming solo record is a surprisingly dynamic, space-themed rock odyssey, and as such is galaxies away from the reverb-drenched lo-fi of Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls and The Outs. Interstellar forgoes dissonance, retro-fixations and traditional pop structure, and instead introduces us to vast oceans of new age synth which accompany Rose down ‘interstellar highways’, until an almighty cymbal crash launches her into the mammoth-rock stratospheres of song’s second half.

With her gaze fixed towards the stars you can certainly sense her lofty ambitions, but thanks in no small part to her producer Le Chev, who unsurprisingly has an electronic background as a remixer and member of Fischerspooner, Rose’s new trajectory is handled with a refreshing amount of restraint. Interstellar is big, it’s dramatic, but it’s also calculated, and that’s what makes this new direction seem like a refined extension of Rose’s sound rather than a revision or diversion.