For those interested in the delicate, immersive end of UK dance and electronica, Roses Gabor may already be familiar. The north-west London vocalist has been around for a while now, her powerful vocals finding a home on tracks with SBTRKT, Machinedrum, Shy FX and Gorillaz.
The child of Grenadian parents, Gabor (born Rosemary Wilson) was always interested in music, growing up on a healthy diet of soca, Stevie Wonder and Capital FM – though her favourites were Mary J Blige and Michael Jackson. It was only after a chance encounter with a member of Gorillaz while working a nine-to-five job at a bank that her first collaboration (Dare) took shape.
Now ready to step beyond those dazzling features for other artists, Gabor releases her much anticipated debut album this month. It’s an assured, fascinating full-length on which her breathy, entrancing vocals top mind-bending soundscapes (the album’s first single, I Could Be Yours, melds plush synths with what sounds like a Bollywood sample).
Collaborating with the likes of MNEK, “afrowave”-trio Team Salut and Sampha, it’s a record that crackles with liturgical ambition as much as beguiling bangers. As she said in a recent interview with Wonderland magazine: “I always feel like I’m inspired by love really, and emotion. Also, as glib as it might sound, God, and vibrations.”
• Roses Gabor’s Fantasy & Facts is released on 22 February on AllPoints. She plays St Pancras Old Church, London, on 18 March
