February 25, 2022 by A.S. Van Dorston

The psych/prog queen returns with a trunkload of costumes and theatrical tunes.

Rosalie Cunningham’s first solo album after dissolving her psych noir outfit Purson was a huge success in 2019, at least critically, earning album of the year on this site. Even more exciting was the prospect of an onslaught of more material, because she already had another album’s worth of songs written before the first one was even released. Things didn’t work out quite that way, the pandemic delaying the band from gathering in the studio by over a year. However, Cunningham made the most of her time at home with partner Rosco Levee, releasing video clips of them beavering away on demos, dressing up in elaborate costumes, and percolating with creativity. She handled vocals, guitars, bass, Hammond, piano, mellotron and percussion, while he contributed some guitar, vocals on “Duet,” and drum arrangements.

The resulting Two Piece Puzzle doesn’t disappoint. Despite the circumstances of the pandemic, the mood is lighter, shifting from psych noir to a more joyous, theatrical prog pop and art rock. It’s like they imagined what would have happened if Bowie, Lennon, McCartney, and members of Queen and Jethro Tull were quarantined together around 1973. Well, it probably would have been a fucking bloodbath of clashing massive egos, but in Cunningham’s fertile and talented mind, she’s cooked up something magical.

“Start With the Corners” starts the album an instrumental overture that gives the sense that this is going to be quite the ambitious production. Indeed, the next two tracks, “Donovan Ellington” and “Donny, Pt. Two” tell a story of a blacksmith on a quest for fame and fortune. While it’s proggy, it’s not a bloaty prog epic, with a combined running time of just over nine minutes. It’s melodic, full of changes, but not overly dense, though Ric Sanders of Fairport Convention contributes violin for some folk rock flavor in the first part, and a pirate sea shanty vibe on the second, with additional bouzouki and mandolin from Darren Jones.

The mid-album centerpieces are the longest cut, both “Duet” and “Tristitia Amnesia” surpassing seven minutes. Both were released a while ago with videos, and I’ve listened to them repeatedly in slavering anticipation for the whole album. They don’t disappoint, as both are great performances, explosions of color, melody and sudden changes from piano rock to guitar freakouts that work beautifully. The latter starts with a kind of menacing Middle-Eastern slink before slipping into sweeter melodies, and a few more surprising changes from their magic back of tricks. It’s all very approachable and really should cross over to a wide new fanbase ranging from admirers of eccentric icons like Siouxsie Sioux and Kate Bush to contemporary fans of Cate Le Bon, Katie Gately and St. Vincent.

Not that her original core of psych prog fans are neglected. While it may be her least heavy album overall, especially compared to her band Purson, “Scared of the Dark” and the glammy “Suck Push Bang Blow” are loaded with fat, fuzzy guitars. The album concludes with perhaps Cunningham’s most impressive vocal performance so far, accompanied by a delicate, jazzy backing anchored by a luscious bass sound. Midway through, the song completely changes direction into a straight rock rhythm, accented by a tasty guitar lick worthy of peak George Harrison. With some satisfying guitar squalls, the album concludes. Almost. Two bonus tracks are included from their 2020 single, “Number 149″/”Fossil Song.” It’s wholly welcome (who wouldn’t welcome, say, tacking on “Rain”/”Paperback Writer”?), as I kind of hoped for a 90 minute double album after the nearly three year wait. No the single is not world changing like that, but at this point I can confidently say that Rosalie Cunningham has not released a single dud song, her songwriting getting consistently more interesting and engaging with every album.

In 2019 I was looking forward to her live band, which included Hidden Masters’ Alasdair “Alpha Michelle” Mitchell, having time to tighten up on the road and record the next album. The pandemic ensured that this too would be assembled and demoed at home by Ms. Cunningham and Levee once again, which now seemed like the perfect situation. Once again, a new live lineup has been assembled, and hopefully this one gets to work.