WRITTEN BY MILLIE TURNER
Caroline Rose’s (they/she) latest album “Year of the Slug” was released last month on Bandcamp. Their latest work is an acoustic album recorded on an IPhone giving it a raw and unfiltered sound while with themes of self reflection, personal growth and loneliness. The “Year of the Slug” tour started this month.
“Year of the Slug” is a showcase of Caroline Rose’s unfiltered talent, stripping the production down to the bare bones, showing you don’t need expensive equipment to make good music. The album’s style itself is a rebellion to the modern age of music. Rose is quoted, “I’m not a McDonald’s hamburger,” referring to their music being hard for AI to copy. In an industry where many artists start to sound like each other and AI music coming to the forefront of media, Rose is determined to stand out and be original. By using minimal equipment and personal stories in their lyrics in an effort to be authentic, Rose is harder to copy and compare.
But the artist has more in mind for their tour and album release than just reminding us of true originality. They were inspired by a personal moral obligation to rebel against traditional promotional routes and to take control of the trajectory of small musical artist’s success. In an interview with journalist Sam Sanders, Rose speaks on how they are upset with the music industry because small artists used to be able to make a living wage but are unable to now. Rose’s way of fighting back is releasing their album on Bandcamp, an online music distribution platform. Bandcamp takes a smaller cut from artists album sales as well as fans being able to buy directly from their favorite small artist. Artists choose how they wish to price their work, giving them financial freedom and management compared to working with other music platforms. Choosing this platform over Spotify or Apple gives Rose the financial control they crave in their career as well as their audience having access directly to them.
Financial inclusivity seems to be the meaning behind their tour and album release. Not only can you buy the digital album of “Year of the Slug” for only $10.00 on Bandcamp, you can listen to it for free on the platform as well as Rose’s website. And the intentions for their tour is no different. Rose has carefully chosen independent venues for their tour. Their reasoning is that they want to support small venues. Concert venues face high competition when artists tour and small independent venues take the hardest hit. Rose touring at independent venues helps keep their doors open. Not only are they helping local music economies, they are paying homage to the small concert halls where they got their start.
“Year of the Slug” a great piece of artwork that has speaks on Rose’s personal experiences. And the promotion of the album and the tour is inspired by sticking up for the little guy by bypassing using big music platforms and venues.
Rose will be touring in cities across the southeast coast March through April. You can find more information on her website on carolinerosemusic.com.