“A confessional track which pits deceptions and truths against one another, exploring the ways in which honesty can hurt the hardest, and lies hold small victories of their own.” That’s how we described ‘Invoice‘, the debut single from New York-based songwriter Caroline Strickland. A love song existing after the relationship it pines for, and set against the job from hell, searching for fulfilment and self-worth within a moment almost designed to deny them. “Who will want me now?” Strickland wondered in closing moments, but the track provided enough cathartic energy to push on regardless.
The song is part of Watch, the three-song EP which serves as Caroline Strickland’s debut release. Now it’s out in the world, it is clear the other tracks tread a similar balance between what might seem conflicting emotions. So while ‘Invoice’ pitted cathartic power against a dented ego, opening single ‘Coolest Girl on the Fifth Floor’ combines abrasive arrogance with careful tenderness, all package as a simmering indie rock number which lifts Strickland’s smoky vocals towards a thrilling crescendo. “This is a song I wrote about my evil neighbour,” as she explains:
We lived in an SRO building in the East Village. It was a weird little green structure built in 1920 that used to be a hospital, then a hotel, at one point an orphanage, and now it’s full of tiny rooms with tiny bathrooms for people who are willing to live tiny lives for a tiny amount of money. When I would practice guitar or sing in my fifth floor room in the tiny building, my neighbor would scream at me through the thin walls Once, she sang back to me, chanting, “This isn’t your personal opera house!!!” I said yes it is! The song was born.
‘Watchdog’ offers a more understated tone, its rhythm floating with a more reflective air as Strickland voices an almost plaintive mood, though soon skipping into something more pressing. There’s the sense the instrumentation is seeking to pull the vocals along with its momentum, doing its best to lift the downbeat vibe, and by the closing section Strickland obliges, her voice rising into one more impassioned statement before the track peters out for good.
Watch is out now via Saint Bear Records and available via Spotify.