Brianna Saucedo | February 12th, 2025
New Jersey, Slowgaze artist Blood Roses, doesn’t just make music—he captures the raw, often aching resilience of life in a way that feels both personal and familiar. His latest album, Slowly, is a sprawling 16-track journey that left me in awe—not only for its intricate production but for its vulnerability, which cuts straight to the heart. Blood Roses navigates emotional landscapes with precision, balancing depth and clarity. It’s the kind of album that stays with you, one that feels like it’s been crafted not just for the listener, but for anyone who’s felt life’s weight and continued to push forward despite it all.
The album opens with “Plotting,” a track that sets the stage perfectly for the emotional roller coaster that follows. The repetitive, almost hypnotic electric guitar lingers in your ears as Blood Roses vocals—smooth and alternative indie—carry you through the song’s rhythmically charged lyrics. He sings of wanting to disappear, to forget, tapping into the universal feeling of wanting to escape a world that feels irreparably different. It’s a perfect introduction, leaving you hungry for more.
Blood Roses has often cited Radiohead as a major influence, and it’s easy to see why. With Slowly, he brings something uniquely his own; a blend of emotive, cinematic vocals and a nostalgic, shoegaze-infused sound that evokes both a yearning and melancholy feel. You can feel Radiohead’s ghost in the room, but Blood Roses voice is unmistakably his—raw, haunting, and yet somehow comforting.
Track three, “Forever,” is a standout, thanks to its minimalist yet powerful arrangement. As the song builds, it’s easy to expect a typical slowgaze instrumental wash, but then Blood Roses surprises us with two simple lines that linger longer into the song. I can’t imagine anyone hearing this track without feeling a rush of emotion; it’s one of those moments where music meets transcendence.
The album moves into “West Side,” with its melodramatic atmosphere. This song carries a bit of a beachy, slowcore vibe, but it’s more than just a sound—it’s the feeling of wanting to leave, to run from the pressures of life. The layers of sound build in such a way that the urge to escape becomes palpable.
One thing that stands out throughout Slowly is how each track feels both like a complete emotional statement and part of a larger whole. The album flows as a cohesive journey while still delivering new emotional nuances with each turn.
As we approach the fifth track, “Hate,” I can’t help but think of the words “beautiful chaos”, the sound of feeling everything—the anger, the pain, the rage. But it’s also cathartic, an invitation to sit with those feelings instead of running from them. Then comes “Slamming Doors,” track six, which presents a shift with its experimental instrumentation. The song feels like the sound of falling back, but still recognizing the need to keep trying. The lyrics—“And again we fall, and again we crawl”—are as raw as they are relatable.
At song eight, “Wicked Men,” Blood Roses nails a sentiment that many of us have pondered in moments of defeat: “Wicked men get what they want, and no one bats an eye.” It’s a bitter truth, and here, Blood Roses seems to acknowledge the disparity between good intentions and hard realities. This is where the album takes on an air of acceptance—recognizing the truth without the need for consolation.
Then we get to “Walk the Line,” a track that feels deeply personal, even beyond the lyrics. The choice to continue living for someone else, to keep going even when you feel emotionally drained—it resonates in every note. It’s a moment of reflection, and Blood Roses vocals here are particularly striking, powerful yet vulnerable. It’s pure shoegaze, floating through waves of emotion, but there’s a sense of clarity in the pain.
Next, “Ride” signals a shift—a turning of the page. It’s a declaration to experience life, to be free from the weight of lingering pain. The track carries an optimism that contrasts with some of the darker moments earlier in the album, but it’s not naive. It’s the hope that healing, though slow and imperfect, is still possible.
“In Sleep” serves as a brief, dreamy interlude before we get to “Shackles,” which is all about self-perception and the struggle to see yourself in a better light. Blood Roses captures that feeling perfectly—when we step back and try to look at ourselves with clarity, even though it's often hard to reconcile the person we wish to be with the person we are.
“Speedbumps” brings us back to grief, to that moment when it feels like the waves of sadness hit all over again. Blood Roses makes this feeling so tragically understandable—sometimes, grief doesn’t come in a neat package. It’s messy, raw, and persistent. But there’s a kind of storytelling in this track, a reminder that we’re not alone in our setbacks.
“Kick Me” feels like a moment of realization—a kind of self-awareness that the actions we take can sometimes be masking our true feelings. It’s a sudden, jarring revelation that makes the song hit that much harder.
Finally, Skin closes the album with a tragic love story. This time, it’s not a love between two people—it’s the tragic relationship between oneself and the wounds we carry. “Tattoo me upon your skin / Oh, what I’d give to have been there for you and there for me / Some things ain’t meant to be.” The lyricism here is haunting, an acknowledgment that not every relationship—especially the one we have with ourselves—can be fixed.
Blood Roses is an artist that demands attention. His work is deeply underrated, and his latest album Slowly proves why he deserves more of it. It’s an emotional, intimate journey that’s as vulnerable as it is powerful. If you haven’t yet taken the time to listen to him, I can’t recommend it enough. With the promise of a new LP on the horizon, this isn’t the last we’ll hear from him. Blood Roses has been at this for a while, having started recording seriously in the winter of 2008, with his first release as Blood Roses coming out in early 2020. I can’t wait to hear where he goes next.
If you’re looking for music that feels as real and raw as life itself, Slowly is the album you’ve been waiting for.