With decades of experience in the industry, WA duo Highway 95 bring their all for their empowering new single ‘Can’t Fix With a Rose’.
Highway 95 have shared their latest single ‘Can’t Fix With a Rose’.
The acoustic country ballad sees the Western Australia duo — composed of Bob Derschow and Nicole Bylund — deliver an important message about the harrowing realities of domestic violence, as punctuated by stirring guitar melodies and Bylund’s enrapturing vocals.
Helped along by Derschow’s guitar work — which flits between country twangs and classic rock and roll — ‘Can’t Fix With a Rose’ coasts mostly on sparse instrumentation.
Save for the quiet jingle of a tambourine and rhythmic percussion, the single provides ample room for the duo to deliver their timely message.
Perhaps the major drawcards of the single are its compelling melodies and catchy rhythms, which provide a soundtrack to Bylund’s powerful reflections on abuse and the way it cannot be mended by superficial gestures.
Here, she sings with an infectious rasp of slamming doors and shedding tears, sketching a portrait of a woman yearning to escape the cycle of violence. “All that you’ve done to me,” she croons with tangible vulnerability, “you can’t fix with a rose.”
While Highway 95 are explicit in their portrayal of the realities of domestic violence, ‘Can’t Fix With a Rose’ is ultimately a message of resilience, as the finds the courage to leave.
“Don’t call me baby,” Bylund declares, “don’t call me at all.” These powerful lyrics feel especially timely, and Derschow’s evocative instrumentation provides the perfect accompaniment to the message.
Such striking work is perhaps to be expected from Highway 95, a duo who have decades of experience in the music industry and were nominated as finalists at the 2024 APRA Professional Development Awards.
While they only formed in 2023, the pair have released multiple original singles, and we here at Happy hope there’s many more to come.
Listen to Highway 95’s inspiring new single ‘Can’t Fix With a Rose’ below.
