MAY 29 – SOLA ROSA – CAN WE GET IT TOGETHER

With six albums under his belt, a raft of accolades and well over a decade of producing genre-splitting music, Andrew Spraggon’s work as Sola Rosa has cemented him as one of the world’s most exciting and versatile producers.

From a humble, self-released one man project, Sola Rosa has grown to a live collective of international repute. Successfully melding hip hop, reggae, jazz, latin, soul and funk, the group have never sat comfortably in one box, but with Spraggon’s guidance, that restlessness has been channelled into six succinct albums.

Despite a rapturous reception for all of those, it was Spraggon’s last, Get It Together, which really catapulted the Rosa sound into the consciousness of the wider world. Surrounding himself with an uber-talented cast of musicians, including the likes of Serocee, Bajka, and Julien Dyne, Spraggon produced an album that proved his most successful yet.

In New Zealand, the album reached the number one spot on iTunes and the Independent NZ Music Album Chart (where it stayed for four months). It reached number 15 on the NZ Album Chart, and eventually went on to achieve Gold status.

Internationally, lead single ‘Del Ray’ was picked up for a number of compilations – including DJ Ease’s edition of Stereo Deluxe’s Coming Home series and Putumayo’s Latin Beats compilation. The album’s full release in Europe and the USA, along with a successful debut tour of both, received attention from radio stations across both continents, was picked out as Marco Werman’s album of the year for 2011, and several tracks wound up on episodes of Criminal Minds, The Protector, Gossip Girl and Mob Wives.

With all that behind them, Sola Rosa are set to release their new album, Low and Behold, High and Beyond. Written over New Zealand’s past two summers, Spraggon has drawn together a host of familiar names and new faces, and produced an album that’s more beat-driven, but as always, tinged with his trademark soul and funk.

Spikey Tee, Ben White, Matt Short and Julien Dyne have joined Spraggon to form the musical core of the group. While Olivier Daysoul, L.A. Mitchell, Ned Worboys and Miles Bonny all lend vocals to the project.

Sola Rosa are set tour the album throughout Europe and the US later this year, and the group will pay homage to their South Pacific roots with tour dates in New Zealand and Australia over the Southern Hemisphere spring and summer.

For fans, the new album has been a long time coming, for the uninitiated, it could well prove revelation.