Even in the midst of slippery, unpredictable production, Rosie Lowe's voice has always been the most undeniable force in her music. The English artist's melodic tendencies are at the heart of her early alt-R&B and soul albums, 2016 Control and of 2019 YUand collaborations, such as her stunning 2021 album with Duval Timothy, Son. On Lowe's third solo studio album, Lover, Otherit channels its raw immediacy Son to even more daring explorations. While Rosie will always impress with the sheer beauty of her voice, here, perhaps for the first time, she has made an album that draws from the power of its brilliant, restless and inventive production.
Lover, Other conveys a sense of emotional immediacy in his lyrics. Lowe is at times confident, boastful and utterly convinced that she is the shit. Elsewhere, though—often immediately after these moments of uplift—Lowe retreats into a shell, unsure of her worth, purpose, and relationship to others. On “Mood to Make Love,” Lowe croons seductively over a completely dusty bassline and barely there percussion, singing, “I bet you never met a girl like me/You never knew how hard I'd be/I came out of the sea dripping gold. ” It is on this last word that Lowe expresses a series of vocal layers, giving the proclamation a sparkling foreground. On the very next track, “In My Head”, the drums are grooving and the bass line recalls the soul-funk of fellow UK chameleons SAULT. Lowe, however, is decidedly less grounded than she was moments ago: “I was in my head/I couldn't get it out/I feel so ashamed/If I could be without,” she sings.
The album's production, handled by Lowe alongside Harvey Grant and D'Monk, reflects the ever-changing self-reflection in the lyrics. Lowe wanted to record in a way that wasn't limited by complicated recording setups, so she took a tiny mobile studio around Europe and visited collaborators, heading to Florence, Berlin, Barcelona and her native Devon. It results in a certain level of playfulness and sonic variety throughout the album, such as on the love song “Walk In The Park”, where a affected old Rhodes pops in to say hello. The second half of the record is decidedly less formal than the first, with Lowe disassociating her voice from the beats and verse-chorus structure, opting instead to wash her voice over vocoders (“Don't Go”) and minimal arrangements consisting of simple drum beats and bass moving in and out of the rhythmic pocket.
It's on these looser compositions that Lowe's production really shines. Outside of the lead vocal melody of “Out of You,” the song is rich with the sound of static rain, breathy horn textures, and clipped vocal squawks. “Lay Me” begins with several vocal lines floating over a piano groove before transitioning into a neo-soul song in conversation with the Soulquarians. his percussion—a brush drum and a floor-like sound so relaxed it's as if the head is barely touching the instrument—underscores Lowe's exacting vision as a producer. Elsewhere, Lowe flexes her pop muscles, as in the clever interplay between percussion, hi-hats, a bass line and Rosie's rich vocal textures on “Gratitudes”. Lowe created something bold and unflinching Lover, Other. Employing her most provocative production to date, she doesn't detract from the brilliance of her lead instrument – instead, it accentuates its brilliance.
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