ROSALI Releases “Other Side” Single

Rosali Middleman gave us one of our favorite records in recent memory when she released Bite Down in 2024. Following the album No Medium [2021], the LP marked her second effort backed by David Nance and Mowed Sound, and found the North Carolina-based songwriter fully melding into a proper unit with her Nebraska cohorts. Mowed Sound is a force in its own right, and when they come together with Rosali, there’s an undeniable magic that occurs. There’s a tangible chemistry between them that comes out in the music. It really feels like a family has been formed. We hung out with them a bit during Pickathon last year, and they’re all such down-to-earth and wonderful people. I genuinely like them as individuals. When we’d see them perform again, after spending time around them, it was almost disarming. They’re so unpretentious and easy to talk to that I’d forget what a force Rosali is on stage and, with Nance and crew backing her, skillfully intermingling their sounds and fusing into such a formidable unit, they feel unstoppable.

Today, Rosali announces a brand new single with Mowed Sound in tow.  The group has embarked on various tours as of late, recently ending a run with Ryan Davis & The Road House Band. Starting next week, they have another handful of dates supporting Merge label-mates/label founders, Superchunk, in the Carolinas and Georgia. Word on the street is that Middleman has been working some new material into her shows, indicating that a new studio album may be on the way. Whether or not this new cut will be part of that, I don’t know, but if it’s any indication of what’s to come, the future is bright.

Titled “Other Side,” the tune was announced on Rosali‘s social media this morning, accompanied by the caption, “Wrote you a song for your spirits.” The Bandcamp page for the song describes it as “a rowdy and feral elegy for a world on fire.” It goes on to refer to the “white hot country rock stomper” as showing the musicians “wresting an anthem from the jaws of despair, finding something close to joy in the righteous fury of Middleman’s lyrics.”

If you follow Rosali on social media and see the posts she likes, you’ll quickly notice how she’s consistently tuned in and on the right side of history. The lyrics for “Other Side” address the chaotic, destructive world we are collectively enduring, where it’s difficult to imagine any form of survivable future, let alone stability or equality for marginalized or disadvantaged global citizens under the boot of Western Imperialism, during the rise of techno-feudalism. Middleman‘s lyrics speak to an idea that many of us have felt, where we’d be almost happy to leave this physical world and sink into the Earth, as long as we go out fighting and dealing a blow to the sociopathic Epstein class on the way out.

One particularly cool element on this track is that it features David Nance using a talk box.

Check out “Other Side” below, followed by personnel details, lyrics, and upcoming tour dates.

Written by: Rosali Middleman
Vocals, Electric Guitar: Rosali Middleman
Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals: Kevin Donahue
Bass, Slide Guitar, Talk Box, Backing Vocals: David Nance
Electric Guitar, Piano, Backing Vocals: Jim Schroeder
Backing Vocals: Nico Paco

Recorded at Oracle Studio by Michael Krassner, Austin Owen, Francis Kelly
Mixed by Jim Schroeder
Mastered by Mikey Young

LYRICS

Such a strong believer
In the obvious lie
My plan of action is:
Getting ready to die
You’ll be the ground,
I will the the receiver
And I’ll be seeing all my friends
On the other side

Born into poverty
You’re dead on arrival
But me and my friends
We grew up on survival
Ever a sandwich
Made of sugar and mayo?
Oh but we’ll be eating good
On the other side

I need a 24-hour
Horse-powered forcefield!
Crushing all my enemies —
I mean those fuckers in power!
Do what you can
They are after your life force
And I’ll be seeing all my friends
On the other side
Seeing all my friends
On the other side
Smoking cigarettes
On the other side

Now bury me deep
Out in nature’s cathedral
And pour one out
For The American Eagle
I’m pushing up the daisies
From the compost pile
And I’ll be seeing all my friends
On the other side

TOUR DATES:
4/22 – Asheville, NC  @ Eulogy *
4/23 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West ~
4/24 – Columbia, SC –@ New Brookland Tavern *
4/25 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle *

* w/Superchunk
~ w/Superchunk & Pylon Reenactment Society