caroline: Tiny Desk Concert

Lars Gotrich, May 3, 2023 London s caroline typically performs in a circle, a visual metaphor attuned to the connections made as members face each other. But in its Tiny Desk performance, the group adjusted its stage plot slightly for a new setting, still singing together of yearning, of fatigue, of kinship. Gusts of postrock, emo, folk and minimalism sweep around the octet s sound, but the musical mishmash isn t quite the point caroline stresses a communal spirit, witnessed here in a beautiful set. Over three songs performed from caroline s selftitled debut one of NPR Music s 50 best albums of 2022 strings skitter and swoon, guitars stutter and drum sticks roll atop the Tiny Desk itself. In sprawling arrangements and frenzied improvisations, this is impatient music that awaits patient ears. There s power and vulnerability in choral singing, where different kinds of voices aid and uplift the moment for something better. That s especially the case on Dark