Today’s song is “Better To Know Now” by Typhoid Rosie. Typhoid Rosie hails from Brooklyn and is the musical love child of comedienne-turned-singer-songwriter, Rosie Rebel and her band consisting of Phil Wartell (drums), Dean Wartell (bass), Steve Capecci (bass), Matt Kursmark (guitar), and Justin Rothberg (guitar).
This is first single from the band’s upcoming Hearts Bleed Goodbye, which is their second album, but first release with their current line-up. The album due out this fall is a tribute to Rosie Rebel’s mother who passed away suddenly while leaving Rebel’s grandmother’s wake.
Robbed of the chance to say goodbye to the woman she loved most in the world, Rosie began to write music again in the middle of 2014 after a year of crippling depression. In January 2015, the band made the pilgrimage to Seaside Lounge Studios in Brooklyn to lay the tracks for this musical Taj Mahal.
For five months following, Rosie and Phil hibernated while Phil, with the help of the incredible Jimmy Sweetsounds at the controls, perfected and completed the upcoming full-length album Hearts Bleed Goodbye.
“Better To Know Now” is about letting your guard down and about getting hurt. But it also begs the question: “Why do we let ourselves be deceived?” This song opens with inviting techno piano melodies. The listener is instantly hit hard with their intense and steady drums. The track goes on to showcase the band’s signature sound.
The song is only surpassed by its enjoyable lyrical imagery and symbolism. The song uses water, wine, and swimming (among other symbols) to get this message across. Water and wine are symbolic, even used in religious rituals. It’s also about the monsters that lurk below the surface, according to Rebel.
She believes the ocean was a perfect symbol for not knowing what lies beneath the darkness – just like people: you never know what’s inside when you look at them.
Rebel says, “Swimming is also a metaphor for a sexual encounter when fluids and bodies merge… I can’t think of anything more intimate and trusting than letting another human into your body… Guys don’t have to let someone in the same way we do,” diving deeper into her feminist philosophy.
She adds, “The song’s also about attraction and the things that lure us into situations that might hurt us…As a woman, I learned that I can’t let my guard down, but always have to be in control of my body.” She learned this wisdom about vulnerability, danger versus caution, and most importantly: how to be a true feminist by loving herself inside and out. Now, she’s sharing it with the world.
We are loving this new track and cannot wait to hear the rest of the album.
Listen below and for more information on Typhoid Rosie check out their official website, Facebook, and Twitter pages.