Since 1999 Sola Rosa’s Andrew Spraggon has been tantalising listeners with otherworldly aural experiences, honing his craft and taking Sola Rosa from a self-released one man project to fully-fledged live powerhouse along the way. A number of highly-regarded albums have been released under the Sola Rosa moniker - 2001’s Solarized, 2003’s Haunted Out-takes, and Moves On in 2005 – each one picking up numerous nominations and getting Spraggon onstage for award acceptance speeches at both the NZ Music Awards and b-net Music Awards.
He’s kept good company on the road and in the studio, Sola Rosa counting members of Dimmer, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Goldenhorse, Pluto and Sommerset amongst the ranks over the years, not to mention pilfering the best members of Che Fu, King Kapisi and Anika Moa’s bands and tapping the talents of internationally renowned artists like Nathan Haines and Spikey Tee. Add to the mix a succession of highly regarded releases the world over on a slew of stunning labels that includes household names Ministry of Sound, Guidance, Different Drummer, Stereo Deluxe, and Satellite K, and you’ll see why so many eager ears and heavy-lidded eyes are always fixed to fasten on what Sola Rosa does next.
All those different nods don’t just show how well Sola Rosa’s recorded material is regarded, but how hard it is to categorise, fusing elements of diverse genres with skewed soundtracks rubbing shoulders with elements of dub, hip hop, lounge and jazz along the way. This diversity comes to the fore again on the much-anticipated new album from Sola Rosa – Get It Together. Taking in a wide swathe of genres, and walking an ever-erratic line between organic and electronic elements, the songs continue to pull off Spraggon’s patented trick of bewitching and beguiling ears in equal proportion and is further proof of the solid sonic sorcery that is Sola Rosa.
Picking up where the performance-based Moves On album left off in 2005, there’s a sweating, smoking live band at the heart of the new record, made up of long-term members of the Rosa roster - Will Scott (drums), Matt Short (bass), and Ben White (guitar). Get It Together’s songs have then been swathed in Spraggon studio sorcery, tooled-up for maximum dancefloor impact, and bolstered by a roll-call of vocalists, musicians, and compositional contributors running headlong into Sola Rosa’s sonic stirrings at full force.
Band Members
Andrew Spraggon (Keys, Perc, Gadgets), Spikey Tee (Vocals), Ben White (Guitar), Matt Short (Bass), Will Scott (Drums)
Influences
So many
Other Artists
Shawn Lee, Omar, Calexico, Madlib, Marvin Gaye, Sly & The Family Stone, Roots Manuva, The Roots, Sizzla
Website
www.solarosa.com
