By JEROME SOLIGNY
Easy to shout “genius,” especially when the genius in question is gone from this world. Death opens the floodgates for those who are spared. Unfortunately, in the case of Zachary Golub Rosen, there is no other choice than to write that this album, his first and his last, is huge.
Born in 1989, Rosen, who suffered from schizophrenia, committed suicide three decades later. He was mad about music, and began composing at age twelve. He performed when his illness permitted, and recorded around 40 songs, 13 of them compiled on this disc released by Sean Lennon’s label. “Syzygy” was begun with friends, who went on to finish it without him. They’re unequivocal: Schizophrenia was not the origin of Zack Rosen’s gift; it was fighting against it that kept his almost unearthly creative flame going. To hear his songs – folk laced with bits of pop, psychedelic nursery rhymes, catchy tunes – one is automatically reminded, and this does not happen often, of Syd Barrett who, as is widely known, also battled mental illness. Likewise, there’s some pre-drama Nick Drake and even a dash of Keven Ayers in Zack, who unquestionably had more than one trick up his sleeve.
It’s impossible to prefer one track over the others – they’re all composed with taste and subtlety. With dreamlike sound, the arrangements feature his playful voice and are as finely crafted as the most elaborate lace work. If the lyrics don’t overtly tackle the illness that struck this musician – who we mourn just as we are discovering him – we know that he didn’t completely avoid the subject: “Pick up the Pieces,” “House of Cards,” and “Speak to Me” speak for themselves.