Rose of the West, Hope Simulator

press release: Rose Of The West and Communicating Vessels are thrilled to release the exclusive 7-inch for the band’s debut singles, “Hunter’s Will” / “Love & War,” which were released on DSPs in August. Just one listen, and Rose Of The West’s distinct brand of moody, ethereal pop will stick with you all day. The Milwaukee-based five-piece was founded and is fronted by Gina Barrington

“For me personally, music has been a really slow, strange, and jaunting ride,” Gina Barrington confides. “A lot of starts and stops, being in the wrong place at the right time. Things started happening once I shared more of my personal, nerdy, very exposing work. [It took] the right people to help me do that.”

Barrington has called Milwaukee, Wisconsin home nearly her whole life. “I always loved music, but like any kid who is forced to learn and play because your grandfather is an orchestra director, you rebel and refuse to keep learning properly,” she admits. “I would never practice unless forced to. I enjoyed making my own little songs on piano or retreating to my room and singing quietly along to whatever I was listening to because I was so easily embarrassed. I think I did know that I possessed a unique natural gift that I didn’t figure out what do with until much later…”

Barrington’s first full-fledged band, Nightgown, traveled along a bumpy road that eventually ended with the unraveling of a close relationship within the band. “During that period of losing the band and having to figure out how to rebuild, the only thing I had remaining was one of the original members, Amelinda Burich (Detenzione, Winter Bear, Group of the Altos). Amelinda stayed true to me while trying to stay true to herself.”

While healing, Barrington rekindled an old romance and secretly got married. On the night of her wedding she ran into Thomas Gilbert, who was with his band mates in GGOOLLDD. “Thomas asked about my music and what I was planning. The next week I had sent him all of my songs.” Soon afterward, Barrington asked Erin Wolf (Hello Death, Group of the Altos) to join on piano and vocals. “Things made sense to me suddenly,” she says. With the addition of drummer Jake Brahm (Canopies, Iron Pizza), Rose Of The West is now on a journey towards sharing the unique sound that comes from this special combination of musicians.

Barrington, in Rose Of The West, entwines a beautiful-but-structured, glossy-but-substantial and temperate-but-temperamental style of pop, following the cues of her home’s famously-infamous seasonal changes. Cool versus bright. Warmth versus ice. “Maybe the long spell of ‘almost’ is broken,” she says, and the music echoes the same sentiment.

Rose Of The West is Gina Barrington (vocals, guitar), Thomas Gilbert (guitar, synthesizer), Amelinda Burich (bass, vocals), Erin Wolf (keyboards, accordion, vocals), and Jake Brahm (drums).