FaithNYC

Punk doyenne Felice Rosser teams up 

with Robert Plant/Tinariwen collaborator Justin Adams

“So excited about this excellent new record by FaithNYC led by long-time inspiration and influential NYC musical force Felice Rosser! Great new songs and funky as hell, as always.” Jim Jarmusch, Filmmaker

“The sound and feel of authentic, funky rock and roll. This band, featuring Felice Rosser, is creating a powerful groove and a force for good in these troubled times. I can dig it and I’ll bet you can, too.” 

Chris Frantz - Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club

Felice Rosser’s FaithNYC reveals another facet of the seemingly infinite diamond of Black American music, whose new album ‘Love Is A Wish Away’ is released on 22 November 2024 by Good Deeds Music. Born in Detroit, she experienced Motown, the 1967 riots, Funkadelic, The MC5, The Stooges and The New York Dolls before moving to NYC for college. Blown away by Television at CBGB’s, she became part of the scene, befriending Patti Smith, and Samo— Jean Michel Basquiat’s tag at that time—and starting to write songs and play bass. Inspired by punk’s DIY attitude, Rock & Roll, Funk, Free Jazz, Dub, Reggae and the new Hip Hop scene all became part of her musical language. She was the bass player in Brooklyn’s all-female reggae band Sistren before she formed FaithNYC in 1988, which became part of Vernon Reid’s Black Rock Coalition. ‘Love Is a Wish Away’, was produced by Justin Adams, the Robert Plant, Tinariwen and Sinead O’Connor collaborator, who also plays guitar on the album. 

The nine tracks are a reminder of how the bold and vital Post Punk spirit is so relevant to today’s music scene, where Afrobeats meet punk attitudes. In Felice’s songs, underpinned by her muscular bass lines, underground New York and its wayward spirits are a constant presence. Punk, she says, “was a liberator for women. Young black women didn’t play instruments when I was growing up –you could just play in church, or sing”. But all that changed after she visited CBGBs… Felice played a unique role on the New York punk scene “because there weren’t so many black people on the scene at that time”.

With a history like hers, taking in everything from punk and rock to reggae, and African music, it seemed inevitable that Felice would connect with Justin Adams. After all, he started his career playing rock, dub and reggae (and Middle Eastern styles) with Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart, mixed rock, blues and African styles in his musical adventures with Juldeh Camara, and his many current projects include work with Moroccan gnawa master Mohammed Errebbaa.

Felice and Justin were brought together by a mutual friend, the Jordanian-Filipina-American writer Malu Halasa.  Justin and Felice had been at the same Clash gig in London in 1979, and Justin says that Felice’s singing reminds him of Sister Rosetta Tharpe. “She is a commanding musician, with a big muscular voice. And I love the songs because they have got that feeling of walking around the streets of New York, or Detroit…the ghosts of the city… this is part of New York’s cultural history…she came over here and we found we had so much in common. I’d start a riff, and she’d know it, whether it was Howlin’ Wolf, Martha and the Vandellas or Nass El Ghiwane”.

Joined by percussionist Fin Hunt, this is a glorious, rousing set that showcases Felice’s songwriting skills, distinctive vocals and driving bass lines.   An album of highly personal songs, it switches from the pounding R&B of the opening Wish Away, built around a memorable bass riff, through to reggae-edged Useless, in which a jaunty melody is matched against thoughtful lyrics about losing a job, and the friendships that go with it. Then there’s the brooding but gutsy Eagle Street and Can I Make It Up to You?,  a pained song of guilt and regret at being out of the country when her grandmother died. 

"Love Is A Wish Away’ is incredible distillation of styles, experiences, cultures and cities that will long resonate with the listener.

For more info please contact chris@chrishewlett.com / 07966491786