The Rosie Taylor Project

The Rosie Taylor Project have a confusing name. Not a bad one, just a misleading one. Surely it's not unreasonable to think that there would be a female singer-songwriter called Rosie Taylor, with the 'Project' as her (all-male?) backing band? Imagine then my surprise to hear male vocals coming out of the radio, when I first heard their music played last week. It turns out that this Leeds-based band contains six people, only one of whom is a girl, and she's not even called Rosie.

But leaving name-related confusion aside, I'd recommend The Rosie Taylor Project to anyone who likes their indiepop with a melancholy flavour. Think Belle and Sebastian's less upbeat moments with a bit of Tindersticks, a dose of sweet boy/girl vocals, and a dash of beautifully mournful french horn, the latter of which is the thing that really seals it for me. They may proclaim a love for Americana types on their myspace influences, but this band's sound is quite a British one. Downbeat and lovely, it almost seems like it couldn't be made anywhere outside the north of England. This is a good thing.

Since the Rosie Taylor Project's live session for John Kennedy on Xfm was my introduction to the band, it may as well be yours too. Check out these three songs, along with another demo track I picked up. Incidentally, A Good Cafe on George Street (their current single) is actually about an old favourite of mine - The Elephant House cafe on George IV Bridge in Edinburgh. Since Mrs Growl is a bit of a pachyderm fan, this was naturally the first place I took her when we first went to Edinburgh together. Since then it's achieved some fame as the place where JK Rowling was reputed to have written the first Harry Potter novel. Anyway, enough of the Scottish nostalgia, on with the tunes!

Download: The Rosie Taylor Project - Sun on my Right (live on Xfm)
Download: The Rosie Taylor Project - A Good Cafe on George Street (live on Xfm)
Download: The Rosie Taylor Project - A Few Words of Farewell (live on Xfm)

Download: The Rosie Taylor Project - From the Crowd (demo)

The Rosie Taylor Project's album This City Draws Maps is out on Bad Sneakers Records on 5 May. Available from all good record shops, I guess.