Led by singer/ songwriter Simon Bradshaw, Scouse alt-popsters Marlowe recorded three intriguing, if slightly unwieldy LPs for Geoff Davies’ illustrious Probe Plus label, but never quite realised their potential.
However, while a quick glimpse at the credits reveals Bradshaw’s retained most of Marlowe’s key personnel for his new project, ROJA, falling into the obvious trap of believing this new octet to be an extension of his previous vision soon proves to be extremely premature.
Actually, if we’re splitting hairs, Roja are technically a quintet, though three strategic guests (guitarist Rob Strachan, multi-instrumentalist Dave Thom and Bradshaw’s wife Rosalind) make telling contributions, so we’ll say ‘octet’ for now. Mr. & Mrs. Bradshaw duet on the two-part ‘Oh L’Amour’ – reputedly written while the couple were on honeymoon in Vietnam – and the sinister sting in the tail in this story of dangerous romantic liaisons is typical of ‘Promises I Should Have Kept’: an exotic bouquet of sweeping strings, Mariachi brass and sumptuously-appointed arrangements that’s far too headily mature to be merely anyone’s ‘debut’ album.
To be fair, Marlowe made some promising serrated alt-rock noises, but Roja are leagues ahead. Indeed, as the hot-blooded, murderously-inclined opener ‘The Evil Stands High’ unfolds, evoking Calexico and Ennio Morricone, it seems a safe bet that ambition ain’t gonna be an issue here.
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That line of thinking comes romping home at 2 to 1 as the album continues. Spaghetti Western-flavoured set-pieces such as ‘Yeah I Could’ and the tango-style ‘Don’t Leave Me Here To Die’ quickly make a play for the listener’s attention, though some thought’s clearly gone into the pacing of the LP and indeed Roja are often equally engaging on slower, poised fare such as the delicate, waltz-time ‘Some Moments Of Silence’ and the creepily cinematic ‘Heart Attack.’
Happily, they keep you guessing right up to the denouement, with the obsessively suave ‘I’m Your Lover Not Your Man’ giving way to the swirly fiesta flourishes of the deceptively-titled ‘The End’. In reality, the album concludes with the second part of ‘Oh L’Amour’, wherein Bradshaw sagely notes “we can’t escape the glint in our eye,” knowing full well his heart will lead him into temptation one more time. Not a bad metaphor for a dramatically-executed LP that will very surely cause the listener to succumb to its darkly seductive charms over and again.
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