Cardiff indie dreamers Rosehip Teahouse have become fast favourites here on BPM with their recent singles “I Meant What I Said” and “A Million Times”, both of which are taken from their forthcoming Fine EP. Today they share the EP’s crushing closing track, “Summer Sleep”, with singer Faye Rogers revealing:
“I wrote ‘Summer Sleep’ in 2016. I was staying with someone who I loved very much, but knew that they didn’t feel the same about me. The last time I stayed at their house, I had this elaborate dream their ex-girlfriend was in hospital and we’d gone to visit her. In that moment, seeing her in the hospital bed, it was as if I no longer existed in their life and disappeared. Once they left together, I wandered around a strange town that probably doesn’t exist either. I found myself lying on the ground of a small white building with a beautiful blue glass window, staring at the ceiling. When I woke up from the dream, I left my love in their bed and said goodbye. It was the last time I saw them for a very long time, and the dream is still as clear as any other real memory in my head.”
“Summer Sleep” itself is more or less a re-telling of the above story of heartbreak and regret, aided by soft keys and Rogers’ piercingly beautiful vocal take – try not to crumple in despair as they sing “I woke up to your face / and it looked so soft and I wanted to cry.” The rest of Rosehip Teahouse sweeps into “Summer Sleep” around the halfway point, as Rogers continues to inhabit the deep pain of their dream, seeing their love and their ex walking off together without a backward look, sung with emotion from such a deep place that it seems the track can barely hold the weight of it. “Summer Sleep” finally trails out with a floating finale, replete with ribbons of sax while Rogers sings a final “goodbye” – they’re crying, we’re crying, the whole thing makes us want to collapse in a puddle of tears.
Rosehip Teahouse’s Fine EP will arrive on December 9 through Big Indie Records. Find the band on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
