Spain ‘Carolina’ Review: slowcore pioneers return with the lovely, haunting ‘Carolina.’
[rating=4]
Slowcore legends Spain return with ‘Carolina‘ (Glitterhouse Records), their first release since 2014’s Sargent Place. And it’s yet another solidly beautiful piece of melancholic rock in their discography.
Josh Haden’s haunting vocals linger through each track like an old ghost on hushed confessionals like The Depression, a piece of wounded beauty recounting the loss of a dog from childhood, or Station 2, which sees our musical protagonist leave his high-school friends for the expansive years of college.
Carolina, is an appropriate old-school name album title, as the release is drenched in dusky Southern American touches, from the dreamy waltz progression from One Last Look, to the love-struck ballad Lorelei.
Perhaps the finest track is Starry Night, a tale of broken hearts and love-gone-bad, which sounds both sorrowful, yet healing, reveling in the nobility of human frailty that Haden so finely highlights.
There is a campfire tale loveliness to Carolina, an old-world alt-country atmosphere, both rich and heartening, yet quietly forlorn using viola, acoustic, lap-steel and other atmospheric touches to great effect.
With Carolina, Spain continue their well-honed craftsmanship, making music for the cautious romantic. It also points towards the devastating trap of nostalgia: that looking back isn’t all highlights: it’s also regrets and hard truths. But it’s those life lessons and reflections that give their music an agency and power.