Concert Review: Frances Rose Sing To The Adulthood Of Being Young At Knitting Factory

I’m beginning to think that family might be the best platform for music. Between those you consider family, The Bent Knee, and those you were literally born with, Lawrence, a connection between souls can go beyond blood into creativity, and the sheer joy that is two people sharing one perspective. Sisters Sarah Frances and Michelle Rose made Frances Rose, which may be the united duo’s star name, but, in concert, Frances Rose feel like a symbol more than a title.

Together, Frances Rose appeared to me like an ambiant, femme figure for heartache and the “badassery” needed to survive it. Their music is like, a romantic, grunge pop novel in which, Frances Rose must prove that a woman cannot only have it all; she deserves it. For me, he vision stems from how their songs radiate themes of spiritual strength, curiosity, and resilience, and how Sarah Frances and Michelle Rose us their  clear, mature vocals of how I would imagine famed, literary characters would sound as they rejected and relished love from others, while simultaneously, resisting love as a blinder from ambition. In essence, they sing like adults for having a sonic back-drop that represents and flares youthful moodiness. I say “adult” because Sarah Frances brings a smoked, gutted feeling to her vocals that turns simple lyrics into concise shots of sentiment, which is something we learn to do as we grow up. If you ask a teenager or early twenty-something, how they feel or what is wrong, you might get a ramble of emotions and symbols, but Sarah serves clarity. Meanwhile, Michelle Rose has her own luminescent voice that, despite smokier, does not exchange a bluesy heaviness for lightness or, at least, the feeling of soulful brilliance.  She still emanates notes and lyrics to play unto Frances Rose’s themes of reaching for better despite odds of a relationship working out, a dream pulling through, or an insecurity ever being fully overcome. Thus, the clarity of Sarah Frances voice and the lightness of Michelle Rose, together, makes them clear light. Sarah and Michelle aim their notes to the audience like rain aims for the ocean; one singular drop meets a well of others who understand that individual’s pain and prosperity affects/ reflect us all.

My “adult” comparison also touches on Frances Rose being a rather still duo. Usually, the more still you are, the more comfortable you are. We usually fidget as physical response to spiritual discomfort. Yet, their lack of movement or choreography, allowed for their music to radiate like an exploding sun. Both just swayed head and body, like Elizabeths from Pride and Prejudice telling their Millennial Darcy that she cannot continuously be “let down” by a man when she has to much to stand up for in herself. As tracks blazed into the crowd with keys and chords that bounced, dropped, and speared through the late night, as if darkness and light were having a secret, ambiance war, Frances Rose showed that being an “adult” does not mean losing your youth; it means handling it better. Moreover, they proved, in a world of solo artists, that two voices harmonizing over the search for their life’s harmony are better than one. Sometimes, you really do need your sister. For More Information On Frances Rose Click Here.