Rosetta West reimagines a fan favorite with raw power in “Dora Lee (Gravity)”

Rosetta West turns up the heat with “Dora Lee (Gravity),” their blistering, re-imagined version of a fan favorite. This time, the band cranks up the wheels with a live studio force that cannot be ignored all done in just two days at Gravity Studios in Chicago, the home of alt-rock legends like Smashing Pumpkins. The song is a single from their forthcoming album, Gravity Sessions, and it opens dialogue with raw emotion and fire. For those who were introduced to “Dora Lee” on Night’s Cross, this take is a whole different animal.

The polished studio polish is gone; in its place is grit, closeness, and urgency that sounds, at times, like you’re standing shoulder to shoulder with the band while they let it rip. You hear the sweat, the buzz, and that special something that occurs when artists lock in and let go. Rosetta West doesn’t so much revisit “Dora Lee” as it resurrects it loud, live, and gloriously unrefined. The vocals are shot through with bitter emotion, driving the listener into a maelstrom of memory and regret. The guitars snarl and shimmer, and the rhythm section holds things down, the song bearing a pulse as much desperation as it is defiance.

There’s a reason “Dora Lee (Gravity)” was selected as the lead single, it’s a statement. It says, “We haven’t gone anywhere, we’re still loud, and we are more alive than ever.” This is a transformation. On Gravity Sessions, Rosetta West tap into something visceral these are the sort of performances that sound sweet and feel necessary. “Dora Lee (Gravity)” is an ideal opening number for this chapter.