CAITLIN ROSE

THE Stand-In, Caitlin Rose’s third release in five years, placed her at the top of Nashville’s list of essential young artists back in 2013. But it appears she wasn’t quite ready for all the attention. She found the spotlight debilitating rather than enabling, its unwanted glare suggesting the prospect of imminent burnout. Rose did eventually return to the studio in early 2020, only to be scuppered by the pandemic. Now, after a few readjustments, she’s back in earnest, brighter and more assured after what she calls “this 10-year streak of doom and disappointment”. Named after an ancient astrological term that relates to a planet being consumed by the sun, Cazimi acknowledges her past experience while proposing a fresh set of terms.

It feels like the work of someone who’s come to some kind of acceptance, a self-appraisal of sorts, with the tough wisdom that entails. Rose’s voice remains as effortlessly supple as ever, navigating the emotional terrain of these songs – part country, part shimmery pop – with a renewed sense of self-possession.

Low-key opener “Carried Away” addresses the need to break patterns of behaviour and self-destruction, something echoed in a number of subsequent tracks. Co-written with Courtney Marie Andrews, who also. “Black Obsidian”, one of several songs coloured by Spencer Cullum’s pedal steel, is another standout, examining the inherent conflict between holding on and letting go, between the familiar and the unknown. “Blameless” is a pristine ballad, marked by a measured guitar break, that sounds resigned to simple fate: . By the time we get to the ringing “Only Lies” (written with co-producer Jordan Lehning), it seems like Rose has undergone a breakthrough: . A brave, thoroughly welcome comeback.