Dreams of escapism, lyrics about squabbling spouses, an upcycled poem and the dying cries of a piano are all woven into the patterns of Two Piece Puzzle. Rosalie Cunningham tells Prog about the challenges of creating her kaleidoscopic new album twice over.

Words: David West

Rosalie Cunningham took a DIY approach on her second solo album.

Images: Rob Blackham

“We started recording it once and then I scrapped it all, put it all in the bin and started again,” says Rosalie Cunningham. The singer and songwriter’s second album as a solo artist, Two Piece Puzzle, was created and then recreated by Cunningham and Rosco Wilson (who also goes by the name of Rosco Levee), her partner in both music and life, working together largely in isolation, hence the title. It’s a fabulous romp through psychedelia, glam rock and prog that reveals the multifarious talents of Cunningham and Wilson with nods to Cunningham’s musical heroes, from Bowie to The Beatles, along the way. “Most of it was done at home and in a very intense, confined environment with my partner, which I haven’t really experienced before,” says Cunningham about the album’s uncooperative gestation. “It had its pros and cons. Because of that whole experience, the record was inspired by that chemistry we have together. We both play multiple instruments, so it was a lot of swapping around and giving each other ideas, and I’ve never really had anybody be present at all times during my songwriting process, so that certainly had an influence. I’m not quite sure what kind of influence but it was as if I was writing for an audience of one who was just sitting there most of the time. That was quite different.”