Caroline Rose – I Will Not Be Afraid (Little Hi!/Thirty Tigers)

Do not be deceived by the quirky, flighty imagery of the the new album. Caroline Rose explores the darker recesses of the psyche, the American Dream and amalgamates that with country-noir, blues and rockabilly on this, her debut album. North American native history and the colour of red are also themes and imagery close to her heart, and along with Jer Coons on assorted percussion and stringed instruments, and Pat Melvin on upright bass, Rose has fashioned a quite startling album, one full of energy, sublime lyrics and heartfelt wisdom. ‘On these streets you’ll find where Reality lives/Lock it up, board it up like it don’t exist’ she sings on Tightrope Walker. Or how about this: ‘You’re using words like hope an truth/You hope someone will find you on ‘When You Go’.
The playing is tight, the recording raw but fine, and the musicality inventive such as on the aforementioned ‘When You Go’ where psychedelic backwards guitar vies at one point with lap steel, or on the minimalist dirty blues of ‘At Midnight’, a bad dream of a song that speaks of her desire to not let others change her.
Along with the likes of Eileen Jewel and Caitlin Rose (Rose, a country name if ever there was one), Caroline Rose is part of an exciting, new breed of post and alt-country singer songwriters, unbound by convention, but in love with the ghosts of C&W past, as well as the dirtier rock’n’roll side of things al a Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and the rhythmic/poetic visions of Dylan.
Having spent the last few years living out of cars and vans, Rose has fought hard to remain true to herself, and the jaunty title track and and album closer ‘I Will Not Be Afraid’ pinpoints Rose’s overarching courage and strength in the face of adversity: “So long as I got that spirit in me/I will not be afraid.”