New Music Review: Kelsy Rottiers
The new six-song, acoustic collection from West Michigan-based singer-songwriter Kelsey Rottiers is a personal one. Most of the tunes were influenced by the artist’s courtship and resulting marriage to James Pray several years ago.Rottiers, a Cornerstone University music graduate who also studied at the noted Contemporary Music Center, offers her lilting and sometimes mesmerizing vocals highlighted against a sparse instrumental backdrop.
Her lyrics are another strong suit. The deliberate “Take Our Time,” for example, knowingly describes love as “like walking on water…it takes faith to get to the other side.”
“Flame” speaks of the significant role of walking with a companion to move beyond the dark of fear into the light.
The song “Medicine of a Simple Love,” another ballad with some close vocal harmony, was a musical entry last fall in Grand Rapids’ Art Prize competition.
All of the offerings are medium to slow tempo, with a bit of an uptick on the finger-snapping, a capella “Only Gets Better.”
The recording was made at a Detroit-area studio in front of a live audience which allowed for a spoken introduction to the concluding “Wash Away,” a worship anthem which borrows from the stately hymn “Nothing But the Blood.”
See her live: Rottiers will be on the bill at a Valentine’s dinner-concert at 5 p.m. Sat. Feb. 15 at Ecclesia Church, 1050 W. Southern Ave. in Muskegon. Tickets $12 per couple. (www.thecrossinaction.org, (231) 760-6742).
Artist: Kelsey Rottiers & The Rising Tide
Title: “Thinking of You”
Connect: www.kelseyrottiers.com
