Description

In February of 2020, singersongwriter Caitlin Rose settled in at Nashvillersquos Sound Emporium Studios for a week of tracking with William Tyler, Brian Kotzur, Jack Lawrence, and Luke Schneider. After a seven year absence following the release of her sophomore LP, The StandInmdasha selfdescribed Sisyphean nightmare of false starts and career blocksmdashRose was ready, with the encouragement of close friend and producer Jordan Lehning, to give the rock a final push. ldquoIt happened so fast that there was no time to worry about what could go wrong all I walked in with was the excitement,rdquo she says. When she and Lehning planned to return for overdubs in early March, neither expected that the world would turn on its head in little more than a week, that a tornado would soon wipe half of east Nashville off the map, or a global pandemic would, as it has for so many othersrsquo projects, further delay completion. Paradoxically, though, sitting with her songs a little longer turned out to be exactly what Rose needed. ldquoI had all the pieces,rdquo she says. ldquoIt just took a while to make them fit. The initial charge of going into the studio with people I trusted and seeing it through was so inspiring, and then the world just stopped. It was a terrifying shift, but Jordan set the path for us and figured out how to utilize this new uncomfortable freedom of time. It led to a process more joyful than any Irsquove experienced making music.rdquo The resulting record, CAZIMI, out November 18, 2022 on Names, finds itself released into the world at the exact right time. Wersquore not quite postpandemic but wersquore certainly postvibe shift. Things are falling apart, systems are failing in front of us chaos and danger await us the moment we step out our front doors. The perpetual mood is that of a constant hum of anxiety as we try to cope, with varying degrees of success, with the collective trauma that has consumed us unrelentingly for the past few years.Taking its title from the astrological term for when a planet is in such close, specific proximity to the sun that itrsquos considered to be in the heart of it, CAZIMI finds the listener at the moment with its examination of trauma, chronicling ldquothe slow motion unraveling of somebodyrsquos liferdquo in the aftermath. The thing about cazimi is that itrsquos fleeting, accidental, evenmdasha moment of exaltation that goes just as fast as it comes. Itrsquos a phenomenon that Rose could relate to ldquoI was never prepared to take on everything that happened to me in my early twenties. Being all of a sudden thrust into spotlights that I had little business being under was rarely empowering, often more so debilitating, and being in the rush of it all, I never could quite catch up,rdquo she explains. ldquoI was living that lsquocombust to the sunrsquo narrative and the burnout was inevitablerdquo A standout staple of Nashvillersquos rock scene, Rose is ldquowitty, brilliant companyrdquo Pitchfork and a ldquopromisingly wry lyricistrdquo The Guardian with a ldquowily and impressive blend of melancholy and cheek.rdquo New York Times Her 2011 fulllength Own Side Now earned her praise for her ldquosweet, knowing voice and a penchant for lyrics that are far darkerrdquo New York Times, nestled in ldquosimply adorned songcraft whichhellipnever seem constrained by Nashville tropes, old or new.rdquo BBC Music. Caitlin Rose CD is available for home delivery from Vinyl Records London, only £11