Yellow Roses – stop.drop.rewind. (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

I said last time around that stop.drop.rewind are the masters of blending rock muscle with pop infectiousness and I Was A Portrait, the song in question, was a lesson in making music which effortlessly appeals to both camps. Yellow Roses shows another important aspect to their music, the depth of the writing. Without loosing any of their trademark sound, this time using changes in volume and intensity to underly the power of the lyrics, they approach the very sensitive subject of loosing loved ones.

The song deals with the passing of both a childhood friend taken too soon and an elderly relative, that in itself dealing with the unexpected and arbitrary nature of death but more than dwelling solely on the matter at hand, the here and now, it deals with the reflections and thoughts about their lives and the lasting effect it has on those left behind.

They wield the quiet-loud-quiet format to great success, underlining the emotion or letting the gentler thoughts drift through quieter soundscapes. It’s a personal piece for sure but also something that is universally relatable and sadly inevitable but rarely has the subject been tackled with such a combination of understated grace and unbridled passion.