Rose McDowall

As founder of the dreamy synth pop duo <a href="spotify:artist:4z5NjzIMyaQC4dPxxzxF6e">Strawberry Switchblade</a>, Scottish singer/songwriter/guitarist Rose McDowall scored a minor hit with her bouncy, wistful pop songwriting. The band was short-lived but McDowall continued in wildly different musical directions as the years passed, contributing vocals to work from neo-folk acts like <a href="spotify:artist:68wK3u9MnoZj5fFOFNTfwy">Death in June</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7vF3DcPluq6lZI36VniagW">Current '93</a>, as well as singing on Shawn Pinchbeck's eerie, atmospheric soundtrack for the 2019 film Far from the Apple Tree.

McDowall formed <a href="spotify:artist:4z5NjzIMyaQC4dPxxzxF6e">Strawberry Switchblade</a> in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1981. Initially consisting of four members, McDowall named the band after a fanzine devoted to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Postcard+Records%22">Postcard Records</a>. A year later, <a href="spotify:artist:4z5NjzIMyaQC4dPxxzxF6e">Strawberry Switchblade</a>'s lineup was reduced to McDowall and guitarist Jill Bryson. Performances for two radio deejays generated interest from record labels. Bill Drummond from <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> and former <a href="spotify:artist:4AIo9dEYhuS3AtwhhKgA0M">Teardrop Explodes</a> member David Balfe became their joint managers. In 1983, <a href="spotify:artist:7sbwBqdkynNUDgiWU3TQ5J">Aztec Camera</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:3XdsvDqukVnHTVUhI3cB2c">Roddy Frame</a> contributed to the group's first single, "Trees and Flowers." <a href="spotify:artist:4z5NjzIMyaQC4dPxxzxF6e">Strawberry Switchblade</a> recorded one self-titled LP in 1985 and their song "Since Yesterday" became a Top 10 hit before the duo split up a year later. After <a href="spotify:artist:4z5NjzIMyaQC4dPxxzxF6e">Strawberry Switchblade</a>, McDowall became involved with darker and far less commercial artists like <a href="spotify:artist:7vF3DcPluq6lZI36VniagW">Current 93</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7BqVdvWeMLlWkZAOGRPe0I">Nurse with Wound</a>, acts known for delving into gloomy neo-folk and industrial noise. She also sang backing vocals on albums by <a href="spotify:artist:3BqAAo5E60L15TcFgWI8xH">Felt</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:37KB5e6cGsN1AQAB9Omm1U">Coil</a>, and many others. In the '90s, McDowall collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:0oJ1V3N4lNXP2TNVS4klmz">Boyd Rice</a> in the band <a href="spotify:artist:0LWFuxBzMTmhTkLxVC0qZW">Spell</a>, releasing one album of cover songs for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mute%22">Mute</a> in 1993, and with her then-husband Robert Lee as <a href="spotify:artist:3zzB83pqyfaPZXIshcfF0x">Sorrow</a>, releasing a string of spooky gothic folk albums (1993's Under the Yew Possessed, 1999's Sleep Now Forever, and The Final Solstice [I/II]). She kept a low profile after that, resurfacing in 2015 when <a href="spotify:artist:1PNn72sOTFvZukmj4bFUgw">Night School</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sacred+Bones%22">Sacred Bones</a> released Cut with the Cake Knife, a collection of songs she recorded between 1986 and 1988. In 2017, McDowall released the three-song EP Our Twisted Love, which contained both the ethereal, eight-minute title track as well as a fractured cover version of <a href="spotify:artist:35y7CZMg7jbG8Q96JY7dyC">Burt Bacharach</a>'s "Make It Easy on Yourself." In 2019, McDowall contributed vocals to the haunting soundtrack for Grant McPhee's film Far from the Apple Tree. ~ Michael Sutton, Rovi