Rolo Tomassi
- Bio:
Cosmology is the study of our universe – how it was born, where it’s going and where it has been, as well as what it looks like from the outside ... (more) - Bio:
Cosmology is the study of our universe – how it was born, where it’s going and where it has been, as well as what it looks like from the outside. ‘Cosmology’, by Rolo Tomassi, is basically that, but much, much noisier.
The band recently celebrated an anniversary – raise your glasses to five years of sonic terrorism, people – but Rolo Tomassi have never taken more time than is necessary to congratulate themselves for achievements passed and battles won. What they are presenting to the world isn’t a summary of what has gone before, tempered with the advice of cowards, but a focused blast of artistic fury that could only have been created by Eva Spence, Ed Dutton, James Spence, Joe Thorpe and Joe Nicholson.
Rolo’s roots might lie in a network of small villages around Sheffield but ‘Cosmology’, their terrifyingly exciting new album, was birthed in Los Angeles via Texas. Recording with the legendary Diplo, a man best known for his hook-ups with Britney Spears and MIA, may be a far cry from their past spent decimating underage clubs, but as a musical step forward it’s entirely logical.
After forming in 2005 the quintet soon recorded their first demo, which immediately found its way into the hands of promoters both Sheffield-based and further afield. The only logical step the band could take was to book their own tours around the country (GCSE and A-Level exam schedules permitting, of course), fuelled by more self-released EPs and culminating in the ‘Rolo Tomassi’ EP on Holy Roar after a chance meeting at a gig in someone’s living room. In September 2008 they signed with Hassle to unleash ‘Hysterics’: support tours became headline slots, and after precocious outings with the likes of 65daysofstatic, Foals and The Bronx, a fateful appearance at SXSW in Texas and several major festival appearances across mainland Europe they started work on album two.
“‘Hysterics’ was basically chaos,” says James. “We weren’t really sure what we were going to come out of the studio with, but we’re all proud of that album.” As they should be – garnering attention from mainstream press worldwide thanks to the fact it sounded like nothing anyone had ever heard before, ‘Hysterics’ eventually found its way into Diplo’s life. He cited Rolo as an obscure band who should be more popular in an interview with Pitchfork in February 2009, and the DJ subsequently watched them play a month later at South By Southwest. Not long after, Diplo DJed in James’ hometown of Nottingham; James and Ed met him for breakfast the day after and had a chat. A few months later the band were recording ‘Cosmology’ in Los Angeles under Diplo’s auspices.
“A lot of people seem to assume with Diplo as a producer we'll be coming back with a dubstep hardcore record but his role as a producer wasn't to change the way we sound or to alter the direction of the band” says James, “he presented an environment that we could relax in and brought in amazing people to help record the album.” The LA sessions were the longest the band had ever spent in one place together, and it shows: ‘Cosmology’ is confident and controlled where its predecessor lashed out indiscriminately.
“In retrospect, with 'Hysterics' I feel we were fairly modest when discussing but with 'Cosmology’ we're openly proud of the record we've made,” asserts James. “We set out to write songs that were more fun for us to play live. The songs are far more structured and to a degree, more accessible." He’s speaking relatively, of course. None of Rolo’s inherent power to shock has been lost, but threaded throughout the album is a coherence that will surprise everyone, and not just long-time Rolo devotees. Every speck of intimate strangeness is intentional, from Eva’s vocals being more distinct to melodic but worrying curveballs like ‘Kasia’ and the title track (listen to them, now), and ‘Cosmology’, as a whole, is a staggering achievement from a band with no boundaries.
“We’ve never done anything that sounds like this before,” muses Eva, “but it still sounds like us.” We’ve all heard that one before. But it’s never been quite as true as it is now. (less)
Party Wounds (Produced by Diplo)
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From the album:
Cosmology
