Every now and again, you come across an album so breath-taking that just the thought of articulating the profound sensations and emotions it evokes in you is enough to deter you from doing it at all. Perhaps irrationally, you fear, in trying to describe the music, failing to do it justice, or even taking away from it. As ‘caroline 2’ is one of those records – arguably my favourite record of 2025 thus far – I’m going to have to tune out the voice of trepidation in my head for this review, as I simply can’t not write about it. So, before I attempt to put its beauty into words, I hope my imploring you at the outset to JUST LISTEN TO THE NEW CAROLINE ALBUM is enough to ensure it enters your ears at some point in the near future!
For starters, I will say that I’ve been a fan of this octet for a while now; specifically, since the release of their self-titled debut in February 2022. As with fellow Londoners Black Country, New Road’s second album, ‘Ants From Up There’ (also released that month), ‘caroline’ saw its namesake make good on the sonic opportunities made available to them by the nature of their group – that is, numerous instrumentalists, all of whom would also sing. The result was 10 stupefying songs that varied from short, quaint interludes to sprawling, meditative pieces characterised by a strong emphasis on repetition and space.
Until now, one could only surmise as to how caroline would look to follow such a stunning album. The arrival of ‘caroline 2,’ however, has revealed not just a continuation from but, in my opinion, improvement on the band’s previous project – something that I would have struggled to imagine was possible in 2022. This new record is brimming with innovations both unexpected and delightful: the group, incorporating electronic elements of the likes of autotune and heavy distortion – at times, interestingly, of their acoustic instruments – and moving away (if just musically) from the repetition threaded throughout their first record, in favour of having the songs on ‘caroline 2’ progress in more unpredictable and, ultimately, more exciting ways.
The album begins with a single chord strummed on an electric guitar; at a moderate pace, initially, though it grows faster and, with the addition of a second guitar part to mimic the first, increasingly frenetic. A low, thrumming bass and sporadic drum beat then enter the fray to form ‘Total euphoria’s rhythmic foundation, over which Jasper Llewellyn sings abstract lyrics – “did we ever talk about how you left them?” – in a near-whisper.
While those familiar with the band may have anticipated the emergence of soaring strings from the carousel of sound created here, or the subtle yet intentional rising and falling of volume as the track progresses, a grand development two-thirds of the way through leaves the listener no choice but to abandon any preconceptions they might have built up regarding the rest of ‘caroline 2’. What occurs is an earthquake in audio form; a burst of bass so powerful it will make your speakers shake, your breath hitch and, if you’re like me, your lips quirk up into a smile.
Though ‘Total euphoria’ is one of the more obvious examples on this album of caroline’s enduring prowess when it comes to striking stark contrasts in their music, it is this that makes it the perfect opener of ‘caroline 2’: not only does it signify a sonic departure from their debut but, through the surprise (albeit spoiled by this review) that appears later in the song, the listener is prepared, if for nothing else, to expect the unexpected.
Almost paradoxically, in this way, they can’t be surprised to find themselves chucked into an alien soundscape, of waves of noodling guitar, viola and vocal parts colliding and overlapping, after the exhalation of breath that introduces ‘Song 2’. So, too, when a low-pitched, distorted voice – representing an unnamed ‘he’ in the song’s narrative – delivers the line ‘it’s like lightning on sky’; one of several specific phrases that crop up in different songs across ‘caroline 2’. Typically abstruse, one may view the lyric as just another embellishment, as a lot of the words that appear in caroline compositions are borne out of improvisation or perhaps settle on one of the many interpretations that can be made about it.
Another reoccurring line, ‘now, I know your mind,’ is first heard on the heavenly third track, ‘Tell me I never knew that,’ the only one on the record to feature another artist. This artist is Caroline Polachek, who I consider to be one of the most impressive vocalists of our time, and alongside a disarming acoustic guitar melody, it is her distinctive, airy voice with which the song commences. Beautiful harmonisations – between recordings of her voice layered atop one another as well as those of the other caroline members – eventually give way to a pitter-patter of percussion, and from here the song just blooms.
All eight tracks comprising ‘caroline 2’ are astonishing, each for reasons specific to them. Take ‘When I get home,’ on which Llewellyn and viola player Magdalena McLean softly sing in unison while what sounds like a heavy club beat rumbles beneath, muffled as if playing in another room (an intentional effect, as the band approached some friends to record a dance track to feature, distantly, in the song). On ‘Two riders down,’ a stunning tribute to two people who were close to the group, what begins as a soundscape not too dissimilar to that in ‘Song 2’ spirals into a bewitching frenzy; shouted lyrics and crashing cymbals enveloped in serene strings.
Moreover, the unique approaches to recording that caroline have taken in creating some of these songs give the listener even more to marvel at regarding ‘caroline 2’. My favourite of these can be heard on ‘Coldplay cover’: some of the group play the first part of the song in one part of their manager’s house and, as others begin to play the second part in a different room, the sound engineer moves away from the first and towards the second group; the former, still playing, can be heard in the distance. ‘U R UR ONLY ACHING’ is similarly idiosyncratic, as mid-way through it, an early demo recording, featuring McLean accompanied by a sparse guitar melody, is incorporated into the otherwise studio-produced track. Minute details though these are, they underline caroline’s residual fervour to experiment, not simply with their music but with the way in which it is recorded, too.
I’m aware that I’ve already let you in on some of the surprises that you would have otherwise been surprised with on this album, so I’ll leave you to uncover the rest that I haven’t mentioned. That said, album closer ‘Beautiful ending’ is certainly aptly titled, what with its chill-inducing crescendos, and reflective lyricism, and…okay, I’ll let you soak in the rest!
‘caroline 2’ is a must-hear record from a group of musicians whose desire to innovate, as these eight songs make abundantly clear, knows no bounds.
caroline: caroline 2 – Out 30 May 2025 (Rough Trade)
– Total euphoria (Official Video)
