Photo credit: Aliza Baran
There’s a good chance that if you’re familiar with Milwaukee singer/songwriter Gina Barrington, it’s by way of the Milwaukee electronic duo Kiings. The duo included a slick, trip-hop makeover of her single “Cupid" on their 2013 remix EP Warehouses Possessed by the City. She was the only artist on that EP I hadn’t heard at the time, but just that one exposure made it impossible to forget her. Her stark, smoky voice makes an impression.
There’s an obvious, slam-dunk setting for that voice of hers: a sort of dreamy, noir-ish, David Lynch kind of thing. She’d sound great over that kind of music. What a treat it is, though, that with her new band Rose Of The West she skips that sure-fire path and attempts something riskier and more difficult. Instead of dusky, torchy ambiance, the band sets her voice against a pristine, white-gloved backdrop of synth-pop. The two tracks on the band’s new single, “Hunter’s Will"/ "Love & War" take a decidedly modernist approach to the new romantic pop for the ’80s, playing to emotions instead of nostalgia. They’re both big, sweeping songs, and they place Barrington’s voice right where it belongs: front and center.
You can stream both tracks now, via Soundcloud, ahead of their vinyl release on Communicating Vessels on Tuesday, Aug. 29, the same night Rose Of The West open for Warpaint at Turner Hall Ballroom.
