The Stand-In
The Nashville singer-songwriter Caitlin Rose started out playing warehouse punk shows alongside bands like JEFF the Brotherhood. On her third album, featuring swooning pedal steel, twanging electric guitar, and ringing tube amps, she has some quibbles with the modern age.
The queen of (alt)Nashville returns with a record that marks her as one of America's most gifted songwriters.
Caitlin Rose immediately proved she was someone to pay attention to with her debut EP in 2008.
In a perfect world, Caitlin Rose would be a big star, and indeed, she may well get there anyway, given that she has a sweet, pure, coy, sassy, assured, and beautiful voice, and writes wonderfully balanced pop-country songs that suggest Patsy Cline, Linda Ronstadt, and the commercial pop end of Fleetwood Mac all rolled together.
Tiptoeing the divide between showiness and subtlety, Caitlin Rose has a voice all-but guaranteed to melt hearts. Velvet soft and effortlessly emotive, the 25-year-old Nashville native clearly has the capacity to belt out the high notes, but the good sense to know she doesn’t always have to, her tender restraint infinitely more affecting than any big-lunged talent show warbler. But while arguably the star attraction, there’s more to recommend The Stand In than just a pretty voice.
It's not hard to understand why gushing reviews of Caitlin Rose's sophomore LP continue to multiply. It's good, it's safe and the powers tha...
Caitlin Rose's second album tones down some of her spikiness in favour of a more radio-friendly sound, but the trade off is worth it, writes <strong>Dave Simpson</strong>
Country starlet shows off her versatile voice on sophomore album. CD review by Lisa-Marie Ferla