caroline (uk) - Bold post-rock trajectories

For their second, exhilarating album caroline came up with some great ideas. From a submerged electronic beat, perceived from a club's bathroom, to different parts of a song played simultaneously in two rooms and connected by a moving microphone, the band exploits the possibilities offered by different ways of recording. A fascinating new way of experimenting thus finds its place within the English outfit's bold post-rock, now more interested than ever in melodic lines and a hi-fi sound. We spoke about this and much more with the band's guitarist, Mike O’Malley. The interview below has been condensed for clarity.

How would you describe caroline now compared to the band you were before your debut?

Honestly it's hard to compare us to the band we were 5 years ago: we hadn't toured yet, and we put together “caroline” piece by piece. At first it was a very fluid line-up of people playing in the group, but by the end of the recording an 8-piece line-up had solidified. It was perhaps only after the many dates supporting our debut that we became a proper band with a clear, shared musical vision. “caroline 2” is the result of that process of growth and those experiences.

So touring as a “full band” also influenced how the songs on “caroline 2” were written?

Absolutely! After a while playing together, you notice each person's strengths within the band, and that awareness fed into the way we wrote the songs.

I read that you, Jasper and Casper planned writing trips to find inspiration. What was your idea before setting off? Is that something you'd already done for the first album?

It's something we've always done to start or finish a project. For us it's important to step away from the daily routine to fuel creativity and limit distractions; writing while on tour is also something that doesn't work for us. To start thinking about the new album we went to Scotland and brought along ideas, voice memos, and fragments of recordings to discuss among ourselves. The idea of the microphone moving between the two rooms that we used for “Coldplay Cover” came about on one of these trips, and before presenting it to the others, the three of us tested it out.

At what point is a song's skeleton presented to the band?

It happens very naturally when we're clear on the conceptual goal of a track. That way, every member of the band has a clear idea of the direction we want to go in.

The fluidity and refinement of the eight songs is impressive. Especially considering that they're often made up of different parts juxtaposed together, written and recorded in different contexts, yet the whole thing sounds so organic, so natural. I get the impression you focused more on melody than on your first record.

Yes, absolutely. It was interesting to explore the idea of paying more attention to vocal melodies and bringing the vocals to the forefront. For the kind of music we play, that felt like a radical concept; likewise, recording in a high-quality studio was something new for us. That said, the dynamics of our songs haven't been turned upside down: the focus is never exclusively on the singer and the lyrics, but rather it alludes to the structure and workings of a traditional song.

The lyrics probably follow that same logic. They're clearly less interested in narrative and more focused on conjuring suggestive images. How do you write the lyrics and how do they interact with the musical side of each song?

That's a great description and I very much agree. Most of the lyrics are written by Jasper while we're working on the music, and they come about very spontaneously. That's also part of why making demos is important. It doesn't mean the lyrics are meaningless, but - as you said - they're not built around narrative; when there are narrative elements, they make up one part of the lyric, and then there are always other lines alongside them.

Your experimental approach to recording really struck me. It seems like for you, recording is just another aspect of composition, and therefore an artistic process in itself. The ideas you came up with for "Coldplay Cover" and "When I Get Home" are brilliant!

I find it hard to think of a song as something separate from the way it's recorded and produced. Since that's how you choose to present your ideas, composition and recording and production are inherently connected. Almost every idea applied during recording had already been "written" before we even went into the studio, and we knew how we'd need to approach it. The club-bathroom ambience on "When I Get Home" was actually one of the ideas we only landed on after the recording session. We felt like something was missing from the track, and almost as a joke we ended up adding a beat like the kind you'd hear in a club bathroom. There's a sort of meme going around on YouTube with compilations of music recorded from club bathrooms, and we put one on to test the idea out: you could hear Taio Cruz's "Dynamite". After that we commissioned a track in the right key specifically for our song and recorded it playing in a club.

On stage you play in a semicircle formation: why that choice? As an audience member, it gave me a sense of intimacy, as if I were being invited into the music and into the lively, ever-shifting dynamics of the group.

Imagine if all eight of us played in a straight line, that would be so weird! Joking aside, early on we were playing in really small venues and couldn't fit on the stage, so we started playing on the floor, often in a circle. Now that we're on bigger stages, playing in a semicircle lets us keep that same approach going; plus, being able to see each other while we play makes it easier to lock in and come in at the right moment. Anyway, I agree with you: it creates a sense of intimacy, and it's a great feeling for everyone, both for the audience and for us on stage.

This is probably just a coincidence, but since Caroline Polachek sings on a song from "caroline 2", I have to ask. The last track, "Beautiful Ending", opens with these words: "Did you recognise it? I'm halfway off my island". Is that a reference to the opening line of Caroline's latest record, "Welcome To My Island"?

True! Well, it wasn't intentional, but I'll tell you this: we're fans of Caroline and we listened to her latest record a lot. I suspect that if that song hadn't existed, Jasper's subconscious would never have arrived at that line. It's like it's now become part of his vocabulary.

(July 13, 2025)

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google