Rosa Walton Steps Out Solo with *Tell Me It’s A Dream*

The solo chapter has been a long time coming for Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth. Since their early teens, the two have operated as the single creative unit Let’s Eat Grandma, a partnership that refined its adventurous pop instincts across three albums, ending with 2022’s reflective Two Ribbons. The parallel solo efforts that started with Hollingworth’s synthy January release Quicksand Heart now continue with Tell Me It’s A Dream, Walton’s full-length debut.

The album opens with a different posture than the one that closed the duo’s last record. Where Two Ribbons settled into a hesitant, quiet hope, “Heartbreak to Heartbreak” announces its arrival with Walton declaring she’s “done with playing dead.” Bouncy guitars and processed hooks set the tone. “Sorry Anyway” follows with the album’s most immediate chorus, a finely-tuned rush that leans into giddy pop playfulness without losing its grip.

Walton moves through the songs with a breezy artistic wanderlust that feels less studied than what she builds with Hollingworth. She reaches for synth pop and guitar-forward indie with a natural ease, her collaborators stretching the arrangements into euphoric, hopeful shapes. Bells ring through the guitars of “Taking The Roof Down,” matching the Christmastime setting of the lyrics, while “Prettier Things” carries a warm vocal feature from Hollingworth over a bouncy bassline and cheerful keys.

Certain touchstones come into clear focus without reducing the songs to mere homage. “Halfway Round The World” carries the wistful, jangly current of The Sundays and The Cranberries, and “Wave Machine” pulls from an emotive space that recalls The Cure, even dropping a lyrical nod to the band. Even when the record dips into thornier territory, the gaze stays fixed forward. The off-kilter dream of “July” provides a gentle respite and a moment of self-actualization, with Walton singing, “This is the best I’ve felt in a while / I don’t need to earn your affection / It’s been there all this time.” Tell Me It’s A Dream does not try to complicate the formula. It commits to the rush of discovery and pushes through, already looking ahead.