Like Magic: Clash Meets Roses Gabor

"I feel what I feel, I write it down and then I share it with the world..."

If Roses Gabor’s music was a type of food it would “probably [be] some gorgeous looking blue or sea-green hallucinogenic mushroom,” she tells Clash.

Gabor makes the sort of heart-cleansing music that transports you from the drab realities of everyday life to the more fantastical stylings of the imagination, yet still retaining such true, relatable, emotive feels throughout. “I feel what I feel, I write it down and then I share it with the world, or at least try to,” she says.

Her sound, while soulful, often flirts with a more expansive, sometimes otherworldly, electronic palette. “I think R&B has always been a part of me and is something that will always be a part of me,” she goes on to explain, “but then I’ve always dabbled in other things, because there are other things that I like, so sonically it might have been difficult to pin it down.”

– – –

– – –

Slow-burning in both her cadence and her trajectory, the West Londoner of Grenadian-Dominican heritage has lent her captivating vocals to an impressive roster of producers including SBTRKT, ShyFX, Machinedrum, Swindle and Gorillaz. Focusing on solo material in the last few years after quitting a job in the City, her debut album, ‘Fantasy And Facts’, was released back in February, and boasts Grammy-winning collaborators such as The Stereotypes, Greg Wells, and Fred Ball, as well as esteemed UK talents Team Salut, Toddla T and Sampha. “My record is full of people that I really love, people that I really feel excited about when they play me something,” she enthuses.

In parts soul searing, elsewhere without inhibition, surprisingly energetic and danceable, time and again Roses proffers lush, incredibly depth-filled soundscapes that almost dip into the celestial.

Love, vibrations, astrology and spirituality are all influences in Roses’ world. Describing a track from her debut album that she thinks will imbue the most numinous in listeners, she notes: “I think it would be a song called ‘Perfect Magnitude’, produced by Greg Wells. I recorded it in this chateau in France. The room I was in looked really churchy and the sonics in there were beautiful. As I was recording it I could feel the tears coming. I felt most connected and it’s been one of my favourite songs for a long time.”

“But then,” she adds, “‘I Could Be Yours’, I feel like it touched people in such a magical way that [it] too could be seen as that same sort of connection.” She could have chosen many more, to be honest. Roses Gabor will have that effect on you.

– – –

– – –

Words: Laura Arowolo
Photography: Vicky Grout

Join us on Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.

Buy Clash Magazine

-
Join the Clash mailing list for up to the minute music, fashion and film news.