caroline
caroline 2
Tough Commerce
Jun 06, 2025
Internet Unique
Caroline’s self-titled debut was an acoustic, spacious slowcore folks report that at instances caught a tailwind whereas sustaining a rural serenity with its strings of olde. Its sequel holds tracks with the identical refined grandeur, imbued with the thrill of fringe experimentation in recording strategies and a sound charged with a fiery electrical energy. It’s nearly as if Bob Dylan went electrical within the twenty first century after discovering auto tune with the dial turned to 11.
The intro “Whole euphoria” showcases who caroline was, is, and will likely be when at their greatest. Syncopated guitars run alongside one another, gaining velocity however held in line by dragging, blasting drums and steadily guided by the group’s vocals. The track builds and builds into one rising, crackling violin notice that drops right into a distorted explosion of electrified catharsis. When first listening to this observe it generated chills. After which the time after that, and the one after that…It really lives as much as its title.
However after the emotional rollercoaster of “Whole euphoria,” dropping that prime and receiving crescendos and partitions of sound which might be much less grand in composition typically leaves the listener concurrently needing a break and wanting extra. Whereas “Stunning ending” is an ending, and fairly a wonderful one at that, it’s a sluggish diffusion slightly than an explosive bang. Having “Whole euphoria” on the album’s helm creates an expectation of power that’s by no means actually absolutely met, and frames the remainder of the album as lower than it truly is.
Nothing on caroline 2 is with out its bumps and scratches. The violin is violent and gritty, the drums off-kilter and explosive. Devices typically get into an enthusiastic yelling match, equivalent to on “Two riders down,” the place the amassing of little instrumental quarrels type a suffocating blanket of noise. The coarse scratching of bow-crushing-string as “Music two” enters its climax highlights the refined textural touches that put caroline a minimize above the remainder.
Versus the intimately distant sound uniformly captured within the recordings of their debut, each track sounds such as you’re listening to it stay and up-close and private in numerous settings. On “Once I get residence” a techno kick mutedly kilos by means of membership partitions as you stroll in on caroline quietly performing within the toilet. However, “U R UR ONLY ACHING” alternates between a booming rock observe and an intimate acoustic recording, at one level sharply isolating to only a voice memo of guitar and vocals. A very enjoyable use of the mode of recording occurs on “Coldplay cowl,” the place the band splits into two rooms and a Zoom mic strikes in between the completely different components of the home. The groans of footsteps on wood flooring transition between sections of the track as the primary half fades to a quiet background to let the second shine.
The double caroline collab, “Inform me I by no means knew that” with Caroline Polachek, is nearly a whole anomaly within the album’s equation. Polachek’s inhuman harmonies floating atop the track’s crystalline melody nearly make you overlook her lyrical existentialism: “I don’t even know if I’m alive / However I don’t wanna be any person else,” Polachek sings over joyful guitar. “Possibly I don’t wanna be anybody / And I don’t wanna be any person else.”
At their greatest, caroline create compositions that blow your socks off, leaving you staring into house as your mind routes all of its power into attempting to understand the gorgeous frankenstein they’ve created. Main with their greatest track made it arduous to maintain that momentum going, and the album’s makes an attempt to get again on its ft typically see it hold tempo however not escape into its unique dash. (www.caroline.band)
Creator score: 7.5/10
