Rowan Flack’s slow-burning contemporary jazz has always been atmospheric and overall enticing. Her last soirée, Forest Fires, was unveiled nearly two years ago. Since then, if her new single ‘Make Me Whole’ is evidence to utilise, she has walked further down the path of individuality and mastered her talents. The new chapter teases a full story in the upcoming EP, Nap on the Sofa.
Opening moments feature a plucked bass that finds a three-against-four polyrhythm. As percussion shakes the moment, the piano follows this rhythmic intelligence, biding its time for the drums and the sax. The vocals arrive just as the band settles into a groove, texturing Rowan’s melodies with an easy intimacy and un-rushed flourish. It sits between a folk and jazz meditation from here on out, unfolding, revealing deeper layers, wrapping the listener in its grace.
Rowan shares its inspirations: “‘Make Me Whole’ was written in a Bergen fjord-side café, overlooking the ocean, while performing abroad in Norway. I wanted to capture the vastness of the ocean and the longing I felt through sound. The musicians capture this; with flowing piano lines, melancholy trumpet improvisations, and experimental, folk and jazz drumming, it unveils the track in its live context.”
Recorded at 123 Studios in Peckham, the track was made in collaboration with Rob Dimbleby on piano, Jack Lecomber on double bass, Andrew McCoubrey on drums, and Celeste Cantor-Stephens on trumpet, each of whom leaves their fingerprint on the sonics.
Rowan herself has her roots from the BRIT School and Trinity Laban to Norway’s Edvard Grieg Academy. Selling out shows in Bergen, having a residency in China and praised for previous releases, the new EP is one well worth looking out for.
Listen to it here:
