Rosalie Cunningham - To Shoot Another Day

To Shoot Another Day is the third solo album from Rosalie Cunningham, and just like its predecessors, it’s a rollercoaster ride of everchanging sounds and styles.  Her songs are well-crafted with lyrics that are often fun and have a sense of whimsy (her partner Rosco Wilson co-wrote five songs).  Alongside her powerful vocals, the musicianship is fantastic with Cunningham and Wilson playing the bulk of the instruments along with drums from her former Purson bandmate Raphael Mura, and on 1 track Itamar Rubinger (ex-Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats), keys from David Woodcock, flute, clarinet and sax from Gong's Ian East and electric violin on one track from Ric Sanders of Fairport Convention.  The album artwork has a very movie industry look, which carries over into the title track that opens the album.  Musically it has a very strong, dramatic James Bond sound, but still stands on its own with a slinky swagger.  Album highlight “Timothy Martin’s Conditioning School” kicks off with a driving Beatles’ groove then adds elements of glam era Bowie and T Rex, resulting in an insanely infectious rocker with a chorus you will find yourself singing all day long.  The six minute plus “Heavy Pencil” is a powerhouse track that is constantly shifting from start to finish.  It opens with some super heavy psychedelic jazz funk with some flute thrown in, then shifts into a laid-back jazzier groove, before adding a little prog to the mix, complete with more flute, clarinet and sax. “Good To Be Damned” is slow and very dramatic with a somewhat cinematic feel that’s reminiscent of “Live And Let Die”, until the choruses kick in with their bouncy, almost celebratory cabaret vibe.  The smokey blues of “In The Shade Of The Shadows” features some great bluesy sax from East, also with a bit of a cabaret flair thrown in, and is followed by “The Smut Peddler”, a short instrumental that’s heavy and psychedelic with thick, fuzzed out guitar riffs, organ and clavinet, providing the perfect segue to the second half of the album.  The swirling psychedelic pop tune “Denim Eyes” takes things in a completely different direction and is absolutely gorgeous, sounding a little like the more adventurous side of The Carpenters.  It also features a fantastic guitar solo from Rosco at the end.  “Spook Racket” explodes out the gate with T Rex styled bombast full of blistering guitars, organ and “glam” handclaps, then towards the middle it slows down into a more haunting sounding song, and as if that wasn’t enough it closes like a gorgeous acoustic flamenco.  The modern-day waltz with a slight country lilt of “Stepped Out Of Time” is absolutely enchanting and brings us to the album’s closing track “The Premiere”, an epic, twisting turning prog track that starts and ends like a paso doble at a bullfight.  While the album ends here, there are two bonus tracks included on the CD that were originally released as a 7” in early 2024.  First up is the hook heavy “Return Of The Ellington”, a song that concludes the three-song arc started on her Two Piece Puzzle album with "Donovan Ellington" and "Donny, Pt. 2.”  While it actually is at times very reminiscent of Jethro Tull she gives it a kick in the pants with heavy fuzzed out guitars and organ along with Sanders’ electric violin and flute from Claudia Gonzalez Diaz from the band Cachemira.  “Home” is the other bonus track, and it is a fun, lighthearted whimsical pop tune that will put a smile on your face.  To Shoot Another Day is absolutely one of my favorite albums to come out this year.

(Esoteric Antenna)