Rose Elinor Dougall - Without Why

Sometimes bands act as incubators for the stars of the future. So it is with Rose Elinor Dougall, who joined polka-dot popstrels The Pipettes as a teenager and left four years later as a young woman with a drive to strike out on her own.
The 24 year-old is now set to unveil her sparkling debut album, Without Why, which presents her as the new face of smart, sophisticated indie pop, full of baroque twinkles, killer melodies and heartfelt lyrics.
Dougall began working on the album in January 2008, entering the studio with producer Lee Baker in September of that year. “It took about 18 months before we both felt the record was finished, but as this is my first solo record, it was really important to let the project develop naturally, for me to carve out my own sound and really understand what that was.”
Without Why features 11 tracks whose influences betray Dougall’s still tender years. Although a love of the folk music she inherited from her parents record collection (Fairport Convention, Bridget St John, Joni Mitchell) is easily detected in the melodies throughout the album it’s the delicate textures of decidedly English alt-pop greats like The Smiths, Felt, The Durutti Column and The Sundays that seem to frame the songs in a, unique, decidedly brittle, yet romantic exterior. Although previous singles (Another Version Of Pop Song, Start/Stop/Synchro, Fallen Over) are the tracks shouting the loudest, it’s the slower more thoughtful material from her debut (Find Me Out, Watching, May Holiday) that demonstrate how far Dougall has come from the days of ‘Pull Shapes’.
Aside from her preparing own album, Dougall travelled to New York to work on Record Collection, the forthcoming album by dapper dandy Mark Ronson. “Mark had always been a Pipettes fan, but when he heard some of my solo work I think he felt that it had things in common with what he was aiming for with this new record of his,” says Rose. “He took a bit of a punt on me, and when I arrived in New York I had no idea what to expect, but Mark made it really easy for everyone to find their own place within the process and everyone had the freedom to bring their own perspectives.”

Tracklisting

1 Start/Stop/Synchro
2 Come Away With Me
3 Find Me Out
4 Third Attempt
5 Carry On
6 Another Version Of Pop Song
7 Watching
8 To The Sea
9 Fallen Over
10 Goodnight
11 May Holiday

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