London collective caroline have released caroline 2 deluxe, an expanded version of their sophomore album that features seven new tracks. They’re mostly early renditions of the album’s songs, and there’s something grounding about listening to some of the year’s most spell-binding music in its barest form, at times deconstructed to the point that they qualify as a whole new song. It makes me think of how the original ideas would sound had they been housed on the band’s debut. Take a listen below.
Opening up about the new release, caroline had this to say:
These tracks are mostly early iterations of the songs released on ‘caroline 2’. Minimal acoustic versions of ‘Total euphoria’, ‘Coldplay cover’ and ‘U R UR ONLY ACHING’; an impromptu version of ‘When I get home’ recorded in Peckham Rye park in 2022); and a recording of the first time we ever played the core of ‘Song two’.
We have always loved the quality of phone and portable mic recordings: both how casual and informal they feel, but also because they tend to capture freer and more explorative playing in that precious writing stage, before a song congeals into something solid. It feels like there is almost something mysterious at work in these recordings that can never be replicated or mimicked. As well as the ‘When I get home’ and ‘Song two’ demos, the final track on the release – ‘greek2go’ – is also a phone recording. It was recorded in what was then the empty shell of a former Greek dark kitchen, but has since become our studio – and is an improvisation with three guitars and singing in an empty, reverberant room. It never made it onto the album but it is a piece of music we are really proud of.
We have also included a recording of the club track from the first half of ‘When I get home’. This was recorded from the front bathroom of Avalon Cafe and is a track produced by our friends Daniel S Evans and Jennifer Walton.
Five bonus tracks from caroline 2 deluxe will be available on a special 12″ available at Rough Trade stores in New York, Berlin, and the UK.
Revisit our Artist Spotlight interview with caroline.
