ROSETTA WEST Dora Lee (Gravity)

The newest visual and sonic offering from Chicago’s enduring underground force, Rosetta West, is both jarring and hypnotic. Titled “Dora Lee (Gravity),” this video is part of their forthcoming Gravity Sessions collection, which captures the band in a raw, unfiltered environment at the legendary Gravity Studios. Unlike the highly polished videos dominating today’s music landscape, this one embraces grit and surrealism. With fierce blues-rock instrumentation as its foundation, the song dives deep into a myth-infused narrative, blending military imagery with mystic feminine archetypes. It’s less of a music video and more of an esoteric fever dream.

The video centers on a hardened tank commander a role that serves as both literal and metaphorical. He is depicted spiraling into obsession after a fleeting encounter with an otherworldly presence. Each scene is layered with symbolism as the visitor morphs into mythic goddesses like Ishtar, Hecate, and Kali. These shifting identities evoke themes of power, desire, and cosmic vengeance. The interplay between martial machinery and divine femininity is jarring yet magnetic, providing a conceptual depth that is rare in modern blues rock media. The viewer is left deciphering whether the commander is victim, sinner, or seeker.

Dora Lee (Gravity)” is unrelenting. Rosetta West’s signature blend of rugged blues, psychedelic undertones, and global folk textures erupts from the speakers with urgency. Joseph Demagore’s vocals howl with both clarity and anguish, while Herf Guderian’s bass and Mike Weaver’s drums build an atmosphere that is equal parts ritual and rebellion. The band’s refusal to smooth their edges results in a track that feels truly lived-in every note a bruise, every lyric a scar. The passion captured in the one-take nature of the Gravity Sessions elevates the immediacy and emotional weight of the performance.

Rosetta West remains a testament to uncompromising artistry. Since the 1990s, they’ve operated outside the lines of commercial expectations, drawing on obscure mythologies, global rhythms, and raw musicianship to tell stories that resonate with the spiritually restless. “Dora Lee (Gravity)” is no exception it demands your attention and rewards it with layers of meaning. In a musical world often satisfied with surface-level sentiment, Rosetta West continues to plunge into the deep end of the human experience. Seek this one out not just to listen, but to witness.

Written by Patrick