Ruby Rose Fox has recently released her second full length CD, Salt, and it’s a wide departure from her debut disc, Domestic. Whereas Domestic rocked things up with driving beats and R&B influences, Salt is a slab of artistic self-indulgence, with Fox letting her contralto voice, unusual lyrics, and new ideas sprawl out in down tempo layers. Uncannily, Boston’s girl wonder, Fox, manages to make artistic narcissistic self-indulgent into successful art.
Fox’s lush vocal opens “Caroline Says” in beautiful contrast with a light piano melody below. Other pleasant sounds grow, abound and fill the backdrop with sweet texture as Fox’s slowly unfurling vocal line grows dynamically. By the time she finishes this number, this singer-songwriter has taken us from a thin, whispery traipse through her soundscape into a larger wall of sound in full, living color. Her horn section, meanwhile, oozes a fulsome melody that combines today’s pop vibe with a 1920s jazz sensibility.
One feels Fox climbing higher, taking her sound to the next plain on “American Daddy.” Her voice becomes larger than life as does her band’s large wave of accompaniment over a spanking rhythm section. The breadth, depth, and width of this song pulls the listener in with multi layers of allure before a secondary power drive takes us into the heart of Fox’s world.
“Binghamton NY” reminds of Pink Floyd’s eerie acoustic numbers. A light guitar finds a good home among synthesized wind, sound effects, and chimes. Over that intrigue, Fox sings in a lush whisper, drawing one further into her quirky approach and wildly off kilter vibe. It’s art and beauty and strangeness all wrapped into one tasty confection.
“Charlottesville” finds Fox using her vocal finesse to bathe religious hypocrites in a light of their own reflection. Her voice at once deep and lush, Fox sings like a singer from a better time in music. Applying it to her surrealistic view, with lyrics like “baptize me in Pepsi Cola,” creates a world haunting to contemplate even though this tune pleases the ear with its numerous fine touches. Aside from the above, this work marries with credibility electronic effects with electric and acoustic instruments.
“The Matador” flags down the listener’s attention with Fox’s sprawling, dynamic delivery of her lyrics alongside a faux Spanish horn. It’s uncanny how Fox builds up her vocal delivery into a sudden, louder instrument. It’s even more puzzling how she makes the hard edges of her voice ride the melody line, like every line must be complex and challenging and she has to meet the challenge each time and does.
Eerie horn strains usher in “Lady Godiva.” From there, Fox takes us through her tortured poetic vision of life via stream of sub consciousness. While it might be hard for most to understand what she’s talking about, her edgy pop vocal delivery, swishing synth line, and a seemingly simple drum beat leave an indelible impression. Her chorus “Don’t shoot the messenger” could pull this song onto any local radio station play lists and from there, who knows? The rest of this work is not as commercialized.
The peculiar title “Your Sister Is Dead, I’m Buying A Sega” belongs to a song that finds Fox reviving an old pop music style. She sings with a haunting timbre as her backing singers form a faux gospel effect. Electronic effects around the voices make this a very different song than almost any other ever recorded. The song eventually lands in an accessible place, something that rides its own kind of graceful rails. Not only does Fox manage to be unique, she does it quite well, turning an odd song idea into something anyone can enjoy.
“Christopher, I’m Coming Home Without You” is a sad love song as only Fox can sing it. Her mournful reflection, buttressed by her darker timbre, carries well with that huskiness in her voice. She sprawls her dread over a wide soundscape of electronic percussion and forlorn violin. Though down tempo, Fox makes it feel like something powerful with her dramatic build up. She leads the listener to a dark place but her artistic approach makes one want to continue down the road with her, just to see how she envisions it.
Close out track “Boy Wonder, Come To Me To Survive The Internet Bully” is as narcissistic, self-indulgent, and brilliant as everything else on this disc. Fox’s voice is as supple as a low hum on this track, a vocal approach that holds up with her natural strength. That she can pull off this technique and make this odd theme work at once could convince any skeptical major label A&R scout of this singer-songwriters talent. Faux trumpet and synthesized melody create a unique backdrop for Fox’s lyrical vision. Together, they pull the listener into their world as only an artist like Fox can manage.
Fox may or may not get away with making an album with far less hooks, beats, and riffs as her previous full length Domestic. She hasn’t really been around that long to be throwing the listeners a curve ball like this Salt album. While her debut full length could appeal to fans of vintage R&B as well as 1970s art rock lovers, Salt might appeal more strongly to the 1970s era fans of David Bowie and Peter Gabriel. As self-indulgent as this album is, it is still a strong, brilliant effort from Boston’s most promising artist since Aimee Mann. Produced by Dave Brophy at his Revolution Sound Studio in Charleston, Massachusetts, this disc indicates that Brophy, once again, gave valuable assistance to Fox, getting her sound from inside her imagination onto this album, though he probably should’ve cuffed her upside the head for not including more hooks and more driving grooves.
https://www.facebook.com/RubyRoseFox/
