Category: Synthwave

On the cover of Caroline Rose‘s new album, Superstar, Rose is bathed in red neon light, her makeup and the cellophane around her neck making her look like a mannequin that was mostly unwrapped but then forgotten in a store room or perhaps left there when the place went out of business. She is glamorous, sexy, beautiful, and yet artificial in appearance. I might be reaching a bit here, but it’s as if Rose’s message is that images of beauty are often illusions. True beauty lies in true expression of the self, which she superbly does on Superstar.

She opens with the electro-poppy “Nothing’s Impossible,” which combines hip hop beats with bright synths that carry along her lovely voice like a ballon on a warm breeze and ending with space opera keys that melt into lounge jazz. The groovy, fun “Got to Go My Own Way” has Rose talking about her big dreams and moving on from lost love to finding new opportunities. “I was born to be a star,” she claims. It turns out she was right.

Rose embraces her sexuality (again, self-expression is true beauty) on “Do You Think We’ll Last Forever?” as, over a slick bass groove accentuated by handclaps, she sings about lusty sex (“I want to climb inside you every single day.”) and wondering how long it will last (“Do you think we’ll last forever? No pressure, though, just tell me yes or no.”). She gets Zen on the short and psychedelic “Feelings Are a Thing of the Past.” She’s right. They are. The only moment is now.

“Feel the Way I Want” has Rose strutting across the room like Ric Flair on his way to the ring (“I’m lookin’ good, I don’t think it’s a crime.”) before she gives us a lesson on self-expression and not kowtowing to the pressure of pleasing others, as living a life as others expect you to live it (in terms of expression, at least) is a trap. “Everybody’s so quick to sit you down and say, ‘Try to be cool about it,'” she sings, but she’s going to embrace her feelings and who she is instead. Again, the image of beauty is one often put upon us by others.

Need some make-out music? Rose has you covered with the sultry “Freak Like Me.” “My love is a real bad scene,” she warns, but you want to walk into it despite the warning because you know it will be a good time. Rose moves onto “Someone New,” which is a great showcase of her vocals. It’s easy to overlook how good of a singer Rose while you’re paying attention to the dance floor synths and electronic drums.

“Pipe Dreams” opens with what sounds like a train rolling along the tracks, and the opening guitar certainly goes along with that theme before it drifts into a softer space and Rose’s vocals seem to saunter out of the Black Lodge in Twin Peaks. The opening synths on “Command Z” sound like something out of an early 1990’s video game, which means they sound great, and the rest of the track has a neat dark wave feel to it as Rose sings about wishing she could go back to a better past, much like the thick bass-heavy “Back at the Beginning.” “If it takes a lifetime, I will find my true love again,” Rose sings on the “I Took a Ride” – a pure synthwave cut about heartbreak. You leave the album without any doubt she’ll do it.

Why? Because she’s a superstar. She’s someone who has embraced herself as she is and is leaving illusions behind her on the road. She has cast off the masks that others want her to wear. She has forged her own path. We should all be so lucky.

Keep your mind open.

[You’d be a superstar in my eyes if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Pitch Perfect PR.]