The Roseline released their debut album, ‘A Wall Behind It’, in May 2006 to critical acclaim. Thanks partially MySpace, the band was able to quickly spread their name and garner attention from around the world, especially in Europe. The Belgium website Rootstime (www.rootstime.be) named ‘A Wall Behind It’ one of its top twenty albums of 2006, while the French music site lesinrocks.com placed it in the top ten releases of the year. ‘A Wall Behind It’ also received a favorable review on the British webzine AmericanaUK.com. Of the band’s online album sales, more than half have gone overseas, mostly to Europeans, but also to fans in places like Japan and Australia. In the United States, the band was featured on NPR’s Open Mic (an online extension of All Songs Considered). Locally, they have been featured in the Kansas City Star and Pitch Weekly, amongst others. The new album undoubtedly displays a progressive evolution for The Roseline. While retaining the singer/songwriter elements of the previous album, ‘Lust for Luster’ is far more of a full band effort. Jeff Jackson, who has played with such local stalwarts as Rex Hobart and Arthur Dodge, joined as a full-time member, adding tasteful and meticulous electric guitar and pedal steel to the mix. Another addition to the Roseline fold is drummer James Pillar, who at the ripe age of 22, is contributing a rock-steady backbone to the rhythm section. Founding member Paul Winn chose to play primarily electric bass this time around, while AWBI was entirely upright bass. This added a necessary punch and distinct groove to the songs. There was possibly no greater catalyst for the Roseline’s progression than Ehren Starks’ contribution to over half of the record’s music. The collaboration between Starks’ austere and soulful piano arrangements and Colin Halliburton’s lyrics and melodies was a match made in heaven. The two have been friends for well over a decade and their natural chemistry is displayed perfectly in the songs. As a singer and songwriter, Halliburton has personally progressed since ‘A Wall Behind It’. As he attempts to match or outdo the efforts of contemporaries that he admires, such as Neko Case, Josh Ritter and Conor Oberst, he also looks to the past masters and innovators such as John Prine, Loretta Lynn, and Robert Zimmerman for inspiration. Everything, from the subject matter of the songs (including panic attacks, materialism, love, primal sexual urges, existential dread, and beyond), to his vocal phrasing and projection has matured and grown more confident. When you add all of these new ingredients to the pot, you get (in The Roseline’s humble opinion) a pretty tasty stew. It is a record that should not be cheaply categorized as “alt-country” or “Americana,” but rather simply a record that can and should be listened to from beginning to end. It’s sophisticated yet accessible. As Halliburton stated hopefully, “We aimed to make a record that you can cry to, dance to, sing to, drive to, sleep to, and laugh to.”