Caroline

Rough Trade

Caroline's debut album released on Rough Trade Records is a fantastic piece of slow-burning post-rock. After forming in 2017, and taking 5 years to produce a full length, the debut album from the eight piece band is a labor of well-worked love, and its apparent.

The first track lulls you into a sense of comfort with its structure and overall attractive qualities - 'Dark Blue' being one of the finest tracks released so far this year. The rest of the album throws you in the deep end grasping for anything that resembles a melody or glimpse of song. Breadcrumbs to musics stripped back essence are what Caroline leave behind them on this release. They're clearly not too focused on lyrical miracles - the miracles occurring through instrumental phrasings and spacings.

A teaser for their potential to muster up a monster atmospheric masterpiece, Caroline showcases a band with an unusual approach to the game. They're aware that things can move outside of convention and expectation. The slow burn quality to the music sticks to it like glue, entrapping it to never fully take off. This can render Caroline as something of a frustrating experience, but once you're aware that what you're looking for isn't going to happen, the swells of instrumentation take over and become special in and of themselves.

Put your wants and needs on the back burner and succumb to Caroline's lush take on atmospheric pastures. Let it loosen your need for structure and get lost in its being.

Face the firmament.