Rosetta West’s new single “Circle of Doubt” isn’t just a track—it’s a ritual. Released on April 29, 2025, in alignment with Beltane, a Celtic celebration of fire and rebirth, the Chicago-based underground trio plunges deep into a smoky world of spiritual paralysis and haunting introspection. Blending alternative, garage, and blues rock with hints of psychedelic mysticism, “Circle of Doubt” is a song for anyone who’s ever sat in the belly of a question too long, desperate to break free..
From the first looping guitar riff, the song sinks its teeth into you. Hypnotic and circling like a mantra, it drags you into the thick of a mood, part trance, part torment. Joseph Demagore’s breathy, intimate vocals slip through the fog like a lost prayer, circling back on themselves in a pattern of spiritual entrapment. “Circle of Doubt” doesn’t build to a cathartic climax. Instead, it simmers, holds you there, reflects your own inertia back at you. Just when you think it might explode into something redemptive, it doubles down on its repetition, mimicking the very cycle it mourns.
There’s genius in that refusal. The song’s circular chord progressions and trippy, yearning solos give the impression of reaching for something divine, or at least different, yet it never quite escapes its own orbit. It’s not just about doubt; it’s about the limbo between collapse and transformation. It’s what the aftermath of an epic spiritual battle sounds like when you’re not sure who won.
If you flip the record (more figuratively, here), you’re met with “The God Who Made Me Cry,” an interesting B-side that contemplates loss of faith with thunderous guitars and a kind of folk-tale charm wrapped in distortion. Here, Demagore feels less like he’s wandering in fog and more like he’s staring directly into the storm, voice steadier, more grounded, as if beginning to find his footing on the other side of despair.
Rosetta West isn’t interested in easy exits or flashy hooks. They’ve carved out their own lane, one that fuses classic rock grit with existential weight and mystic undertones. With “Circle of Doubt,” they’re not just telling a story. They’re pulling listeners into the very loop they’re trying to escape!
