A special record, the new one from Caroline Rose expands upon the smart and sardonic releases in the artist's past. The Art of Forgetting melds the personal with big pop, offering up something as bright and shiny as a Nineties Liz Phair long-player or an Alex Lahey side from this century.
Things are sleek but heartfelt, with numbers like "Everywhere I Go I Bring the Rain" having a nearly anthemic quality about them. "Stockholm Syndrome" is more intimate, but the record's highlights are all a weird mix of the personal and the grand pop gesture, like on "Tell Me What You Want", a yearning, big-sounding single. "Jill Says" is elegant, but understated, while the epic "Where Do I Go from Here?" is glorious. Lurching forward on huge hooks like an Oasis tune, the track allows Caroline Rose to reveal her mastery of the material as both a vocalist and performer.
The settings here on The Art of Forgetting are nearly as important as the vocal performances, but Rose smartly pays as much attention to one as the other. The arrangements are nearly elegant in spots, and lush in others, and the whole album feels wonderfully natural, even with the pieces that are archly presented or sleekly produced. The whole release sways forward on waves of emotion, and luckily the melodic attack here is just as precise.
The Art of Forgetting by Caroline Rose is out on Friday via New West.
[Photo: Christina Fisher]