I generally don’t review EPs, but you need to hop aboard Jesse Rosenthal’s train before it leaves the station. The first song on the EP, “Party Dress,” is just a stunning display of vulnerability. From the vocals to the guitars, it’s a song that will gut you and bring you back (if you’re lucky enough to have left them) to sultry, desperate nights.
“Old Closure” is a more minimalist song. I don’t respond to it like I did “Party Dress,” but it’s very much in the same vein. On the podcast, I compare Rosenthal’s music to Twin Peaks. It doesn’t sound like the music from the show, but it has that same aura of taking the familiar and giving it a Gothic twist. Perhaps it’s more accurate to compare Rosenthal’s music to 80s acts like New Order or Depeche Mode, but with a fuller, more organic sound. Regardless, these two songs show a lot of heart and soul — the good and the ugly — that speak of great things to come for Rosenthal.
Jesse Rosenthal — Soundcloud, Bandcamp