‘Send For The Sea’ is an eleven song ’noir opera’ that more deeply reveals the mystical vision of UK vocalist- songwriter Richard Neuberg and his bandmate-companions over the past six years. They are experts in roiling guitars, bittersweet viola, and screaming lap steel, among the usual rock instrumentation. Viarosa’s ability to express themselves in unique ways both lovely and grotesque earned them the fandom of REM, which asked them to open for the mega-band in Dublin at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin. They have also toured and playing shows with Midlake, Robyn Hitchcock with the Venus 3, Joan As A Policewoman, and Alejandro Escovedo.
“Music was a huge part of my life growing up,” Neuberg says about his influences. “I was crazy about Bowie, Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Velvet Underground, The Stones, John Martyn, Nick Drake. There’s a fusion in music of many things that I love -- music itself, words, performance. In some ways, I don’t see myself as a ‘musician,’ more as an artist who’s medium is music. I’m very instinctive about the way I work and because I mainly use a wide range of open tunings, I sometimes don’t even know what I’m playing, or what key a song is in!”
Sweeping, melancholy waves of fresh art-rock like “Tourniquet” and the anti-war anthem “The Old Walls” help anchor an album unleashing a sea of joy and sorrow, from the sweet grace and swelling rage of “Righteous Path” (a manifesto about redemption through artistic expression) to the narcotic, resonant centerpiece “The Last Resolve.” “Ode to Sunlight” glitters with shades of the best of John Martyn, while closer “The Sea” sounds like Jeff Buckley on a morphine drip.
Viarosa features Richard Neuberg on vocals, guitars, and mandolin, who founded the band with his childhood friend Josh Hillman on violin and viola -- Hillman is also a long-running member of the Willard Grant Conspiracy, and has also played and recorded with Danny George Wilson (formerly Grand Drive) & Simon Alpin (former WGC), Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate), and others. “The sound that Josh and I found between us was the foundation of the Viarosa sound,“ Neuberg says. “We’ve always connected deeply through music.”
Also featured on ‘Send For The Sea’ are Rob McHardy on lap steel, pedal steel, electric guitars, mandolin, banjo, and keyboards, who has been in the band from the start with drummer Nick Simms; vocalist Emma Seal, and new bassist Caroline Lomas came on board since three year veteran (and player on “Sea”) Mick Young recently left.
Compared to the highly praised previous record, Neuberg says, “It’s more of a statement of intent than a eulogy, like we’ve stepped out of a dark hole in the ground and are playing our music in the open air. The language is a bit different - it’s more in the moment, more tangible. ‘Send For The Sea’ has more lushness going on, more harmony, more sweetness to some of the melody, more hope. It’s probably a bit more accessible because of that.”
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