Roxanne Fontana: Some Have Fun
CD | DL
British-based native New Yorker Roxanne Fontana releases her sixth studio album, Some Have Fun. It’s a title which certainly captures the feel of the album, which once again finds the singer-songwriter rekindling the timeless spirit of the 60’s whilst translating it into a modern-day setting.
Singer-songwriter Roxanne Fontana follows up on her concept album from 2022, Phantasmagorgy, with her sixth studio album, Some Have Fun. It’s a collection of mostly self-penned songs which takes us on a completely different journey through time and space as it delves into much darker corners than the wild and carefree psychedelic vibes of that previous album.
As Roxanne says of the new album, “Phantasmagorgy was sort of the flowery window box on a house. With Some Have Fun, you’re in the house. It’s a serious place. Maybe you’ll want to run out.”
The album opens in uplifting fashion with Daydream In The Dark Night through which Roxanne rekindles the spirit of the wild and carefree 60’s with a heavy psychedelic up-tempo pop vibe. It’s a song which is wrapped up in jangling guitar rhythms and bright melodies, further infused with Middle-Eastern textures which exude a unique sense of energy and excitement. It also features instruments such as a Moroccan horn, Berber flute, and stylophone courtesy of multi-instrumentalist Mat Treiber, all of which illustrate the diversity which runs through so much of Roxanne’s songwriting.
Title track Some Have Fun has a seriously infectious melody and anthemic chorus line, whilst still recalling the social cynicism and musical style of Bob Dylan, as Roxanne challenges the current state of the confusing propaganda that filters through the news wires. As Roxanne explains, “Being confused about who is really giving out so-called ‘misinformation’ these days seems to be an all-consuming energy grab whether it is about the wars or latest illnesses and treatments. Knowing that greed is usually at the root of all propaganda is usually an answer. It strips the fun out of life for all society, rich or poor, but the actual people who are perpetuating this social illness certainly seem to not be too distressed. So it is a protest of the whole situation.”
The tempo slows right down with All Too Alone which is a melancholy ballad riddled with despair and loneliness whilst Motion has a similarly downbeat and introspective vibe, yet is underpinned with such an alluring melody. Don’t Leave Me was the first single to be released from this album and ups the tempo again as a moody rocker whose energy is very much channelled from the folk-rock inspired days of late 60’s California with its transcendental slide-guitar and sun-drenched chorus lines.
The Singer Not The Song is a cover of the Rolling Stones B-side to Get Off Of My Cloud. It’s a song which derives from a time when the Stones were gravitating towards writing some more mature pop-ballads amidst the plethora of their more standard blues rock songs, with an increasing use of harmonies. Roxanne’s beautiful arrangement of the song really conveys the tenderness and vulnerability within the narrative and also harnesses the original 60’s feel of the song with a warmth that draws on her folk-rock roots.
The First To Know dances in a much more playful fashion with its angular guitar riffs and driving rhythm. Card Throwing #2 has a more bluesy and jazzed up rock vibe as Roxanne delves into the world of tarot card reading which is something she acknowledges she used to do before refocusing her energies on the more scientific world of astrology. Melancholy And You takes us through yet another sonic twist as a song largely framed around a single chord wrapped up with ethereal sounding vocals and the transcendental sounding sitar playing and bells courtesy of Floridian multi-instrumentalist Arvid Smith.
The album closes with a haunting cover of Patti Smith’s iconic song Dancing Barefoot. This song choice does not come as too much of a surprise given how inspirational Patti and her music were to Roxanne in her teenage years. Notably the album is dedicated to Ivan Kral who was a former partner of Roxanne’s and who co-wrote this song with Patti Smith.
Some Have Fun is yet another outpouring of Roxanne Fontana’s passion for the kind of orchestrated folk-rock which emerged through the mid-60s translated into a modern-day setting, all embellished with some inspiring and uplifting arrangements. Roxanne’s very distinctive haunting folk-rock vocal style which melds the varied yet distinctive talents of the likes of Patti Smith, Marianne Faithfull and Nico continues to be very much to the fore, but this is an album which offers so much more and deserves repeated listens.
You can buy the album here.
You can find Roxanne Fontana on Facebook, Instagram and her website.
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All words by Ian Corbridge. You can find more of his writing at his author profile here.
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