As founder of the dreamy synth pop duo Strawberry Switchblade, 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 Death in June and Current '93, as well as singing on Shawn Pinchbeck's eerie, atmospheric soundtrack for the 2019 film Far from the Apple Tree. McDowall formed Strawberry Switchblade in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1981. Initially consisting of four members, McDowall named the band after a fanzine devoted to Postcard Records. A year later, Strawberry Switchblade's lineup was reduced to McDowall and guitarist Jill Bryson. Performances for two radio deejays generated interest from record labels. Bill Drummond from Warner Bros. and former Teardrop Explodes member David Balfe became their joint managers. In 1983, Aztec Camera's Roddy Frame contributed to the group's first single, "Trees and Flowers." Strawberry Switchblade 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 Strawberry Switchblade, McDowall became involved with darker and far less commercial artists like Current 93 and Nurse with Wound, acts known for delving into gloomy neo-folk and industrial noise. She also sang backing vocals on albums by Felt, Coil, and many others. In the '90s, McDowall collaborated with Boyd Rice in the band Spell, releasing one album of cover songs for Mute in 1993, and with her then-husband Robert Lee as Sorrow, 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 Night School and Sacred Bones 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 Burt Bacharach'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

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Rose McDowall

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