13. CAROLINE ROSE – LONER
At
its core, LONER is a pop album, and
on first few listens, you’ll probably just get the sense that Caroline Rose wants you to dance and be
happy. And that’s certainly a possible way of approaching this record, because
musically it’s got all the hooks and bounce you’ll need. But dig a little
deeper and you’ll find there’s lots of other stuff going on. Lyrics that
examine misogyny, financial destitution/doing horrible things for money, social
disillusionment, physical and psychological pain and – more than once – death,
don’t fit neatly with the outwardly chirpy musical tone. More than that, a few
more listens reveal that the music too has some darker edges than first
appears. ‘Money’, for example, seems initially to be a little B52s surf-rider, but its chorus has some
nasty background sirens and trashy guitars that undercut its new wave sheen. Album-best
track ‘Bikini’ showcases the record well: lyrically it’s about the
objectification of women, musically it’s (mostly) a guitar-pop ditty, but with
a synth backdrop that makes it all feel a little uneasy. Impressively
self-assured pop subversion.
