‘River’ Flows with Rosalind Powell Pouring Every Conceivable Emotion into Baroque Pop Grandeur –

Rosalind Powell has the kind of voice you want to gild in gold, frame in a national gallery and gaze at with the reverence it deserves. In River, taken from her album Sound Eagle, there’s a classical purity to her operatic harmonies that gives the baroque pop arrangement a near-sacred glow. The track feels panoramic, opening out into metaphorically picturesque imagery as her phenomenal range glides across unadulterated passion. Powell gives more in this five-minute performance than most West End productions manage in a full evening; there’s feeling in abundance, but never any loss of control.

The delivery carries a natural elegance, while the composition allows each melodic turn to widen the emotional frame. You can hear the discipline of her classical piano training, but also the freedom of a songwriter shaped by the natural world and the flowing movement of sound.

After studying music at Cambridge, Powell continued to develop her voice across different recording periods, and on Sound Eagle, recorded in Llanon with producer Dow Fereday, that growth feels fully lived-in. With hundreds of songs behind her, choral composition experience, and upcoming appearances including Llangollen Fringe Festival, Powell sounds like an artist with a rare depth of feeling and the range to carry it.

River is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast