BOB_EPK | Major of Roses

Electronic Press Kit
for the song Boy Oh Boy by Major of Roses
that will be released April 23 on streaming services.

Below you’ll find the song, texts about me as an artist and the song, as well as several images and a lyric video.

You can also download the same material.

Feel free to copy, cut, and paste, but I’d be very grateful if you added something of your own. I have a lot of content around this release. If you need something in particular, or have any questions, please ask!

magnus@majorofroses.com

Thank you for considering my music!

Listen to more of my music on
streaming services.

Artist: Major of Roses
Music: Magnus Rosell
Lyrics: Nils A. Bergström and Magnus Rosell
Release day: April 23, 2021

A seriously playful song in which the singer remembers his childhood when looking at an old photo.

Have you ever looked at a photo of yourself as a child and wondered what happened to all that future? It all seems very different thinking about it today. What happened to all that imagination, and when did you stop playing? What can you do to relive part of it? The new single Boy Oh Boy by Major of Roses is about the inner child and trying to retain that playfulness. The guitar driven track is laid back, yet still catchy with a lively and detailed production. Major of Roses’ soulful deep voice delivers the message in a sincere yet upbeat way.

The melody was written by Magnus Rosell, Major of Roses, in just a few hours to lyrics by Nils A. Bergström. “The text is very catchy and I found the symmetry of the title appealing – that it begins and ends with Boy. I also liked that it points back to early pop music. It made me think of Buddy Holly. I just started singing the title and looked for a few bass notes that fit. It was very playful, just as the lyrics invite us to be. It’s fun to sing the same words several times after each other – it allows you to vary how you sing it. The song almost wrote it self and was very sparse to begin with.”

Playfulness is the theme of the release and the material around it. How do you keep a child like mind as an adult? The cover alludes to the iconic cover of London Calling by The Clash*. It is a picture of Major of Roses as a four year old sitting on his favourite toy, a red plastic London double-decker. The videos that will be released include a grown Major of Roses riding that same plastic bus. “That is so much more difficult than you would expect at first. It is not a particularly comfortable position for an adult.”

While the melody was written quickly the production took a lot of time over a few years of intermittent work. That is apparent if you listen closely to the track. There are a lot of small details, like guitar licks, guitar strums with muted strings, bells of different kinds, and sound effects. However, the song is mainly driven by the acoustic guitar, the bass, an electronic piano, and various percussions. The slow groove and deceptively simple melody sticks and the vocal performance is captivating.

*) The London Calling album cover was of course in its turn was inspired by the cover of the perhaps most important pop debut album of all times, Elvis Presley. There are many artists since that have released albums with covers following in the same style. One is Tom Waits, who is sometimes mentioned when describing the sound of Major of Roses.

This text is from the about section on my website.

Major of Roses is the artist name of independent singer, songwriter, and producer Magnus Rosell, based in Stockholm, Sweden. His sound is a unique combination of pop melodies and rock grit, echoing the work of artists as diverse as David Bowie, Elvis Costello, St. Vincent, and Massive Attack to mention but a few. All is tied together by a deep voice reminding of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits.

Major of Roses is a one man creation, from song writing to production, the cover designs and the videos. All is made at home, true do-it-yourself, and represents the culmination of many years of spare time passion. Each song is a statement in itself and has not been finished until it found its form, and does not always adhere to a standard pop song structure. Although many of the songs are superficially simple the production is mostly very detailed.

Major of Roses has been making music his whole life, but started releasing music in November, 2017. The first full album, Cornerstone, was released in June 2018. The title track is a catchy throwback to 50ies rock and roll, with a modern touch, that suggests there are a lot of great inspiration to be found in the past. “There’s a reason for the classics to be called the classics”. Among the other songs there are “Pry“, a desperate song that revels in space and understatement, and “Who Could Ask For More?” which is celebrating a relaxed life through an extreme use of double tracking, featuring several vocals on top of each other. “Albatross” tells the story of a man who wakes up one morning and starts to fly, believing he is an albatross, while “Slow Down“, with its industrial sounding backgrounds, assures you there is no reason to be pushed around.

Music by Major of Roses is available on all major streaming services and more. Choose how to listen here.

Lyric Video

Lyrics

Boy Oh Boy
————–
Music: Magnus Rosell
Lyrics: Nils A. Bergström and Magnus Rosell

–

Oh Boy!

Verse 1
Who took that picture of me, of me?
Four years old and still very shy
A longing for life in my eye

Verse 2
Now, when you’re looking at me, at me
Part of that future is left behind
Impossible to rewind

Refrain 1
Boy Oh Boy, Boy Oh Boy
Very young and shy
Boy Oh Boy, Boy Oh Boy
Never let him die

Verse 3
The boy had that something you see, you see
Preserved in that picture in black and white
A moment of playful delight

Refrain 2
Boy Oh Boy, Boy Oh Boy
Never let him die
Boy Oh Boy, Boy Oh Boy
Never let him die

Brigde
Just bring that boy back from the past
And let the longing last forever
Just bring that boy back from the past
And let the longing last forever
And ever, and ever, and ever

Refrain 2

Instrumental

Outro
Boy Oh Boy
Boy Oh Boy
etc.
Never let him die

Some Previous Press

Mystic Sons: Swedish frontman blends the dark styles of Tom Waits and David Bowie on his debut single.

Santa Rosa Records: On his soulful ”Who Could Ask For More?” Magnus advocates for a more relaxed view of life.

Dancing About Architecture: It [Pry] is a song confident enough in its own skin to take its time, which revels in restraint and underplay, often as interested in what is happening between the notes as the sounds themselves.

more more sound: The background music of “Slow Down” has almost an industrial tone, which makes me think of groups such as Nine Inch Nails or Bauhaus. However, the style is decidedly more minimalistic, and the singer’s great low-key, full-bodied vocals have a way to share a message with unique words and phrasing! Major of Roses could be compared to “Low-era” David Bowie, or perhaps, to artists like Lou Reed. His vision is experimental, but also accessible, and more important, this song is driven by an interesting and personal concept that is really eye-opening and intriguing!

Need more?
Browse my website and/or drop me a line:

magnus@majorofroses.com

Thank you for your time!