Jasmine Rose Wilson, who writes and performs as Baby Rose, has one of those voices that just stops you in your tracks. It’s husky and haunting but with a delicate undertone that has you hanging on her every word; it’s rich enough to fill an arena but intimate enough to feel like she’s singing to you and you alone. And she’s got the songs to go with it.

The 25-year-old Washington-born R&B artist first attracted attention this side of the pond with her 2019 debut album To Myself, and has since contributed to Dreamville’s Grammy-nominated compilation Revenge of the Dreamers III. Last year she toured with fellow rising star Ari Lennox, and now she’s back with a new five-track EP titled Golden Hour.

The lead single, Marmot, is a gorgeous slow dance of a track, and the perfect vehicle for Wilson’s razor-sharp introspective lyrics, as she sings: “I don’t wanna have to leave / I don’t wanna have to waste / Time where we’re growing apart / If it all was up to me / We would know what this means / It wouldn’t be this hard”.

Writing on her official Facebook page about Marmot, she said: “Marmot the irony of year 2020 weighing down on my clarity more than ever. it’s harder to let go of comfort when it feels like a world is ending. [I] find myself grasping on for anything in proximity for a sense of control and then realize, well the lesson needed to be learned here may be surrender. Still, surrender to will or desire? When both are at the opposite end of two poles.

“This song ‘Marmot’, written and recorded and made in @insightful room on a rare night in Los Angeles when @daijahanasa @timtypebeat and I all happened to be in town at the same time. I was wearing a comfy coat that said marmot, and I guess reminded of a comfort in love that we all yearn for.”

Wilson flexes her vocal range on Show You, a more uptempo track than it’s predecessor, and Mortal, while Pressure and Artifacts revolve around firmer beats than the more ambient areas of the EP. Ultimately though, if you like your R&B full of soul, with introspective lyrics, and vocals you can get lost in, this is well worth your time.

Golden Hour track list:

1. Marmot

2. Show You

3. Pressure

4. Mortal

5. Artifacts

 r&b 

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.