Rocky Lorelei represents the solo lo fi musical work of Rachel Taylor (also member of Slipper), who was born and raised beside Lake Ontario in Toronto, and is currently set up in Berlin. Her musical processes run parallel to her psychic processes; writing and recording songs is her most vital means of cultivating an understanding of her inner and outer life experiences, bringing a symmetry to her music and her sense of self. Began as just bedroom recordings in Toronto, when Rocky moved to Glasgow in 2016 -encouraged by Sean Armstrong (Spinning Coin, The Yawns, Slipper)- she also moved the project onto the stage. “Rocky Lorelei began as a bedroom recording project in around 2012 in Toronto; a dear friend gifted me a 4-track, and off I went into the strange and tiny world of recording onto cassette, a zone which I have remained in ever since. I figured out how to record and produce my songs on my own (with a little help from my friends) and then spent some time writing, recording, and releasing a couple of EP’s in my room, up until I moved from Toronto to the UK in 2015. I eventually landed in Glasgow (Scotland) and it was there that Rocky Lorelei became a live project as well. Since then I have moved to Berlin, where I continue to document aspects of my psychic life through songs, to record them onto tape, and to play them live. I have co-founded a cassette label here, called Rehberge Records, through which my collaborator Sean Armstrong and I release our work —our most recent release being my new album Bury My Face In A Flower“.

What She Says: “I grew up in Toronto, next to a huge body of water, called Lake Ontario.  I could see it out my bedroom window, from my classroom window in primary school, and was a short walk away from it in high school.  It felt like it was everywhere.  Whenever I go home to visit, I return to the lake, as my Mom still lives a short walk away from it.  The lyrics for this song came to me last time I was home, when I was saying goodbye to the lake again.” 

“This is a piece that I recorded some sleepy late night on my synthesizer. The field recording it is combined with is something that I captured in a very remote part of Scotland on the West coast, a few months later. I keep telling myself that I will make an album comprised solely of drone pieces, but the songs keep coming on guitar. One day, I will do it.“

About the Album: “It is a collection of ten songs that I wrote in the past year or so, on guitar, synthesizer, and piano. On this record I returned to working on a 4-track, so the production is very simple, in the same way that most of my work has been. Writing songs and capturing them to tape is a sacred process for me; it takes me somewhere sublime, and brings me immense joy”.

Her Mixtape: “For this mixtape, I have gathered instances of music that have gifted me joyful moments—repeatedly—all of them by artists that have made significant impressions on me throughout the years.”

Cocteau Twins – Lorelei

I’m not sure how I came across Cocteau Twins, but their album Treasure, which this song is from, was very important for me at a time. I love the space they’ve created in this recording. It sounds like how I imagine it would feel to stand under a gentle and strong pink waterfall, in a moment of pure bliss and happiness. Elizabeth Fraser’s siren-like voice falls all around us, amidst splashing drum samples, and a throbbing bassline coursing throughout, like a current. It was this song that inspired me to adopt the name of the mythical Lorelei as a part of my musical nom de plume.

Sinead O’Connor – The Last Day Of Our Acquaintance

I picked up Sinead’s album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got on CD from someone selling a pile of their stuff on the sidewalk in Vancouver, many years ago. I didn’t really know her work before that, and it took me a little while to listen to it – I believe it wasn’t until I moved back to my Mom’s house in Toronto when I finally did, after a very painful breakup. Thank goodness I had it with me, as I came to discover that it’s got some breakup deep-cuts on it, this song being one of them. I like the sparseness of the track, until it hangs a left and becomes a banger with the full band kicking in at the right moment. Sinead’s lyrics feel so vulnerable and honest, and a large part of that is also her delivery of them: her unadulterated cries from the heart. May she rest in peace, and power.

 

Scout Niblett – I’ll Be A Prince (Shhh)

Steve Albini produced the album which this track is a piece of, I Am, and wow it is such a sweet recording, and an addictive song. I love the bareness of it, the guitar and the vocals, and then the sudden entrance of Scout Niblett slamming the drums in the chorus. Again, a voice that I love – strong, and full of feeling, sharing her innermost thoughts. I remember when I was living in London for a while, I would walk around my neighbourhood alone at night, listening to this on loop, in a state of euphoria.

Emily Haines – Sprig

I discovered Emily Haines through her band Metric, when I was around 17. It was a life-altering musical encounter. I was completely absorbed in Metric, and also Emily Haines’ solo work, for years; I think she might have been one of the most formative influences on my urge to be a songwriter. I loved the seriousness of her lyrics, her social commentary, the mood of the music, and the lilt of her voice; there’s a coldness and an eeriness in her melodies that I found and still find to be so evocative. In Sprig I love the transition from the minimal, spacious first half of the song, gradually into the second half, where it becomes more driven and full, gaining momentum and rolling into beautiful repeated phrases of poetry ~ what a gorgeous feeling!

Joanna Newsom – In California

An incredible storyteller…Joanna’s voice stunned me when I first heard it, on her album The Milk Eyed Mender. I had never heard anyone sing that way, and I found it inspiring that someone with such an unusual voice had found their way to a wide and adoring audience. Some years later she released Have One On Me, which I feel is a Magnum Opus; a double LP of divine and epic songs on harp and piano, full of moving vocal performances, arrangements, and poetic lyrics. I fell in love with this song at a time when I was going through some major changes in my life, and it was a true companion that fascinated me over and over again. I enjoy the sense it has of being both in motion and remaining in one place at the same time. Maybe it’s because it is a song full of memories and reflections. When I listen to it now, I feel I understand it even more than I did then.

Kate Bush – All We Ever Look For

This song is a piece of Never For Ever, my favourite Kate Bush record. The whole album forms a very strange, whacky world, some sort of funny and profound storybook. I adore the way Kate Bush tells her stories, and this one excites me so much. I love the lyrics, they really resonate, in all their concreteness and abstractness, alongside some sharp and fun production choices: the whistle, the tempo, the synthetic sounds, the field recordings…she crafts the most magical and weird pop hits, they often make me smile.

Elliott Smith – Rose Parade

I found Elliott Smith’s songs when I was around 16, at a time when I was searching the internet rather blindly to discover new music. His work changed me, and I am very grateful for it. I think it was the intimacy of the songs and the lo-fi production on Either/Or, the album that Rose Parade is lifted from, that I found so captivating, something that I wasn’t entirely conscious of at the time. The sound of the doubled acoustic guitars and vocals throughout the album and on this track shaped my own production style when I started out recording to tape—that sound was what I was aiming for in a way, even though I had no clue how he had done that, nor did I know what I was doing. With music I’m still feeling my way through the dark, most of the time. May he too rest in peace, and power.

Eliane Radigue – Kyema

I think I feel most at home making drone pieces, and Eliane Radigue makes the most beautiful drone music I’ve encountered. I listened to this track every night when I was falling asleep for years.   I don’t think there’s anything that I find more relaxing, besides swimming in the lake on a warm day, with my head underwater.  

Bury My Face In A Flower is out now via Rehberge Records. Look HERE for more information on Rocky Lorelei.