‘Roses Have Thorns’ is the lead track from Rose Venom’s new single ‘Love Shit’, a neat little slab of Hip Hop which opens with a soft, chilled little piano riff before Venom’s angry-yet-beautiful vocal. Telling the story of a ruined love, Venom’s tale of growth and finding oneself amidst the fallout and wreckage – ‘left me so broke inside…/I’m glad I survived you/ I grew some thorns to fight you, boy…’ – ‘Roses Have Thorns’ mixes Rose Venom’s soft-yet-strong voice with an equally soft-yet-strong message among the delicate instrumentation and multi-layered delivery.
A mother of two children originally from Moscow but now living in Philadelphia, this is no story of brotherly love but rather a lost-love letter to hurt, regret, and quiet, simmering rage. It’s potent, powerful, and poetic.
Check out ‘Roses Have Thorns’, and the rest of ‘Love Shit’, on Spotify. Look up Rose Venom on Instagram.
Review by Alex Holmes