Maggie Rose grew up in metro Washington, D.C., singing in a Springsteen tribute band as a teenager and setting her sights on being a mainstream country singer. Though she appeared at the Grand Ole Opry over 80 times, the young singer was uncomfortable being crammed into a mold that celebrates formulaic adult pop and discourages coloring outside the lines. So in 2018 Rose decided to forge her own path and go the neo-soul route with the frankly-titled album, Change The Whole Thing. Inspired by its success, she upped her soul singer cred by making the requisite pilgrimage to FAME studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to record its follow-up Have a Seat. Produced by Alabama Shakes' Ben Tanner, this is a vocalist record (though the mix oddly focuses too much on the drums occasionally), its hooky group of throwback songs co-written with her longtime collaborators and backing band of Larry Florman, Alex Haddad and Sarah Tomek (all of Nashville's Them Vibes).
Rose convincingly stakes her neo-soul claim on the raver first track, "What Are We Fighting For," which opens with Spooner Oldham-like keyboard lines. The sharply upbeat "Do It" adds a horn section over Rose's testifying: "Why should I be a people pleaser/ Fall into line/ That would be such a crime / I won't be my own enemy." The album's big production number "For Your Consideration," which adds violins and works a loud-soft dynamic to perfection, is a sweeping plea to borrow her lovers' eyes to open her mind. “What Makes You Tick," based around a chicken picking guitar, and back-and-forth vocals with background singers Karita Law and Shanay Johnson (who add much atmosphere), has more than a touch of Average White Band. In "Help Myself" she lampoons the term "self-help" eventually turning towards her own emotional complexities—"My Kryptonite is comparison/ But I take it every day like it's medicine/ I wash it all down with the state I'm in/ To keep it genuine, what's that again?" While it verges on being too glossy and overproduced in spots, Have a Seat does successfully blend studio polish with enough believable grit to mark Rose as a co-writer and vocal stylist who has found a niche that fits and is now entering her prime. © Robert Baird/Qobuz