All Grown Up is a four song debut EP from Rosie Dean, noted TikTok user with over three hundred thousand followers, Chief Operating Officer for growing multimedia company CK Productions, and a graduate of NYU’s respected Drama program. She’s writing material at the moment for her band Esie, but this brief first effort from her will earn the respect and support of many. It’s that good.
The first two songs have rock-pop leanings capable of taking some listeners off-guard. I know they did me. “Bitter” kicks things off with forceful staccato electric guitar and Dean’s voice working alone but the song soon blows up into a wider arrangement. She transitions the music back and forth between a heavier synth presence and allowing the guitar to lead the way though the mix of the two is never incongruous.
Her voice is an excellent fit for it as well. There’s no doubting that Dean has a five-star pop voice with an expansive range, and she handles the pop side of this song with verve and ease. Dean’s voice matches well with the guitar and you can lay a lot of the responsibility for that at the feet of the EP’s production. Dean handled this part of the recording process and has a clear sense of exactly how she wants each song to sound. Much of the EP’s character, I believe, is attributable to her manning the boards for her debut.
“Lifeline” is an often incandescent affair, barely tethered to earth during its first section, and by far the album’s most introspective musical moment. Authoritative percussion comes in later, pre-programmed but packing a persistent snap, and it creates a striking contrast with the song’s electronic surface. I love the thumping bass in the heart of “Sirens” and think it may be my favorite song overall. There’s a lot good going on here though, the bass, the vocals are among the EP’s best, and there’s a raw quality to the song missing elsewhere.
It has a cinematic aspect too. I can imagine, without much effort, this song or similar works making an impact on a film soundtrack. There is a definite sense of dramatized human emotion and experience that thankfully avoids wallowing in cliché. The last track could never be accused of that with a straight face. “Rosé” touches on musical elements any listener will recognize but its lyric takes into Dean’s world rather than exploring familiar terrain. We do know the lay of this land, however, because her writing hits an universal note when it needs to.
There’s nothing self-conscious about it though. Self-consciousness enters the picture when you step back and consider things like the song’s vocal arrangement but, in the moment, Dean’s vocals and the music cast a spell and you are happy to move, reflect, and dream with the music. All Grown Up accomplishes things in four songs some albums fail to get in eight and there’s no hint of creative exhaustion creeping into the frame. This first release made a great impression on me.
Heather Savage
