A long and restless night is a fitting metaphor for the last year, as the world experienced a collective warping of time and place. Doing what artists do best, indie-pop duo Roses & Revolutions transformed their dystopian feelings into a thing of beauty. Their newest EP Midnight Monsters (due out October 15) unfolds like a short film noir, which not only sets a palpable mood, but also cycles through a wave of emotions. Over the course of six songs, Roses & Revolutions craft a darker kind of singer-songwriter sound, though any one genre does not capture their full range. Oscillating between impassioned bursts of rock and a softer acoustic vibe, Midnight Monsters imbues a real sense of timelessness and escape. With sweeping nostalgia, Roses & Revolutions invites us into their world, which feels both like a vast desert landscape, and an intimate space among friends.
Behind the Roses & Revolutions moniker is duo and longtime collaborators Alyssa Coco and Matt Merritt. Based in Rochester, NY, they first connected through music, playing in various bands together until it became apparent that there was a special creative alchemy between the two. The pair really gained traction after their 2018 single “The Pines” went viral on Spotify. Two EPs, a headlining tour, and one pandemic later, Roses & Revolutions arrived at a contentious place. Immediately after releasing their sophomore EP Under The Spell, the world went into lockdown, effectively deflating any momentum surrounding the new music. But instead of wallowing for a year, Alyssa and Matt got to work, and what they found was a new way of making music, one without the pressure of immediate touring and promotion.
Working mostly at night, the duo took their time to hone each song and the result is some of their most compelling and stirring work to date. Describing their environment, Matt says “There’s a little town near us and at night it was completely deserted, so we would go for a walk. At the time it was winter, and we would come home to our bedroom studio and just write and record.” That nighttime quality, as referenced in the EP’s title, clearly seeped in, providing an undercurrent of magical realism. It’s a theme that is found in all of Roses & Revolutions catalog, and that blurring of fantasy and reality can be distilled down to the production, where even the interweaving of both synth and analog sounds creates something otherworldly.
Today Glide is excited to premiere the official lyric video for the EP’s barnstorming closing track “When the Moment’s Gone.” Starting off slow to build suspense, the song is a scorching, boot-stomping rock anthem that is soulful and hard-hitting. Lyrically, the song is about missing an opportunity, and the band injects it with a sense of drama with their expansive sonic textures.
The duo describes the inspiration behind the track:
“’When The Moment’s Gone’ is about the sickening realization that something really important has just passed you by. It’s about reliving that feeling daily. You’re on repeat. This is the only song on the EP that we were able to ‘test out’ at live shows. The audience’s reaction and excitement really pushed us to record it, and it was actually the first song we finished for the EP.”
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Photo credit: Jacalyn Meyvis
