Caitlin Rose’s first two albums, 2011’s Own Side Now and 2013’s The Stand-In, proved that she deserved the special attention she was getting in the parts of the Nashville music scene that weren’t trying to find the next Shania Twain or Carrie Underwood. She didn’t quite disappear after the second album, but she did take to the shadows, making CAZIMI feel and sound like a reemergence.
It’s not melodramatic: the opener, “Carried Away,” hints at influences from two of the most tuneful Velvet Underground songs—the rhythmic groove of “Sweet Jane” and the pretty bells of “Stephanie Says”—and Rose’s vocal volume does not rise above an intelligible murmur.
Throughout the album, Rose and Jordan Lehning’s co-production is sharp enough to let every drumbeat and organ fill be heard, but at the same time gauzy enough to avoid the overly crisp…
