I guess it will be a long time before I think of Anderson Rocio of anything different to how I first saw her, playing a grand piano wearing a wonderful ballroom dress as she opened for Sol3 Mio. We have kept in touch since then, and last year I reviewed her excellent We’re Fine EP. So when she contacted me recently to let me know there was a new EP coming out then of course I was excited to hear it, so much so that I missed the “May have switched directions on ya” in the message. It commences with My World, with backing vocals as she starts slowly in a breathy nature, then we get gentle chords from an electric piano as she slowly started to edge it up and become more forceful. When the riffs started, the drums kicked in with the bass, and we were into a pop rock number I literally sat back in my chair staring at the speakers as this was not what I expected at all! The first thought was whether or not she was inspired by Taylor Swift, while the second was while it was not what I thought I would be getting from Anderson, I loved it!
Her time in America has obviously had an impact on her style as is now far more rock based and modern, with a piano hardly in sight. This is now a confident woman who is fronting a rock band with Dream Girl taking plenty of nods from P!nk, so different from the person I saw in Spark Arena just a few years ago. Another joy of this is that while the six songs are obviously all aimed at airplay, average length just slightly over 3 minutes, they are all quite different from each other and are based solidly around the clear vocals which we have become used to. It does feel like she has been somewhat moulded into a new direction, but there is no doubt at all that it works, and I can imagine my whole family enjoying this if I played it in the car. I have been highly impressed with Anderson since that very first night, and now I feel very lucky that I have been able to witness the change which has come about in her performance and material.
I am sure this EP is going to smash open many doors for this young lady, and pretty soon I am not going to be the only person saying this is essential and that Anderson is going to be a star. Watch for her name, Anderson Rocio.
About the author Kev Rowland
From 1990 – 2006 I ran Feedback fanzine in the UK, writing about bands that were rarely covered in the mainstream press, many of whom were in the underground scene. I built close ties with many British Progressive groups in particular, including writing the newsletter for Freewill, getting gigs for Credo and writing the introduction to Galahad’s OCMDII compilation. I reviewed literally thousands of cassettes and then CDs from bands from throughout the world, and was lucky enough to interview many of them. During this period I also contributed to the French progzine Acid Dragon, wrote for the music newspaper Rock ‘n’ Reel and was also involved with the Ghostland website. In 2006 I moved to NZ, and stopped running Feedback (which was then renamed Amplified after I left, at my request) having produced over 80 editions with more than 11,000 pages of print and heaven knows how many reviews
More by Kev Rowland
Gig Review: Crushfest @ The Tuning Fork, Auckland – 07/07/2023
Single Review: Love and War
Single Review: All This Time
Single Review: Sons of Savages
Gig Review: Stray Dogs @ AUX, Auckland – 26/05/2023
Gig Review: Turkey The Bird @ The Ministry of Folk, Auckland – 27/05/2023
Single Review: Beautiful Creature
Gig Review: Emily Rice @ Your Local Coffee Roasters, Pukekohe – 24/05/2023
EP Review: Bridge City Crew
Single Review: Your Heart of Gold
Single Review: The Strangest Dream
Single Review: No Funeral Blues
