Cinematic singer-songwriter Rosan Sashida, who releases music under the band moniker Rosk, has formerly realized her musical visions through working with producers, and a trusted group of musicians. Within this creative format, she’s issued a stream of singles and an EP. Yet, being subject to other musician’s schedules and availability has always hampered her output flow. When quarantine took hold, Rosan was forced to rethink her process. Today, she’s emerged from it all creatively liberated.
Rosk’s latest album is an artistic breakthrough. Rosan has discovered the beauty of composing and songwriting with electronic textures. She’s also benefited from the streamlined process of working remotely through Logic with a co-producer. Her new Rosk music allows her filmic sensibilities to roam wild with lushly layered tracks that imaginatively stretch into sonic narratives. She calls Rosk’s new record, “Art Collective,” as it’s a gathering of similarly-spirited tracks that are sonically varied. Rosan produced the 9-song collection alongside acclaimed Spanish producer Pachi Alis Garcia. Art Collective the album will be preceded by “Art Collective” the single.
Rosan was born and raised in Mexico City, and studied film production at the Vancouver Film School in Canada. She later specialized in Film Scoring and Composition at Berklee College of Music. With Rosk, she channels her freewheeling artistry and her passion for film scores into an abstract indie-pop sensibility. Her music is outsider art, and it features Spanish and English lyrics, potent politics, and unflinching vulnerability.
To date, Rosk has issued an EP and a slew of singles. Rosk’s music is brought to life and to the stage by musicians Rodrigo Bukantz, Nico Nico Nico, Israel Bermudez, and Alejandro Cabrera. Over the years, Rosk has appeared live at multiple international shows and festivals, including performing at Mexican protests for the missing students from Ayotzinapa; and shows at the CDMX Pride March and Madrid’s MADO LGBT march. In addition, Rosk’s rendition of John Lennon’s “Real Love” was premiered at the RVK Fringe Festival in Iceland.
Listening to the Art Collective album is like perusing an exhibit curated by an actual art collective. The songs are vibrantly varied but share a creative kinship. One standout is “You Don’t Belong” which is one of the more experimental tracks on the album, and epitomizes Rosan’s boldly textured vision for the album. “You Don’t Belong” features sensual vocals, fizzy electro-pop hooks, rugged beats, and glitchy electro passages.
Rosan prefers to keep her songwriting open to interpretation, but she does reveal that the sleekly stirring “I Don’t Remember” references how in life we quickly forget our blessings. Here, key lyrics include: We won’t remember all these glorious times/Instant pictures fading out/Hold on to pieces that spark something back/What is the point of it at all? The playful track, “Turtles,” sneaks animal rights messaging within fizzy electro-pop. Rosan’s gifts for narrative musicality is on full display with the song “Anxiety.” The concept here is self-explanatory, and the music is impactfully arranged, winding through key changes, awkward pauses, and rowdy instrumental passages to mirror its title.
