Led by a melodic piano-driven production and memorable lyricism, This Peak is a stirring new EP from Caroline in the Garden. The project comes via Atlanta-based artist Caroline Milby, who played in Philadelphia art-rock band Weird Hot before relocating to Atlanta. Thematically insightful while also showing an array of hooks, the EP tactfully draws from personal nostalgia and messages of perseverance. “I am nostalgic for the 80s pop that I grew up with, as well as the 90s piano chicks that I adored,” she says. “This album fuses these two influences together, while weaving together themes of courage and self-empowerment.”
“The Underside” opens the EP with a melodic cautioning amidst lush piano and playful instrumental trickling. “Keep your distance, you won’t see I’m already gone,” Milby’s dreamy vocals let out. “At the surface you can’t touch what’s underneath the pond.” The artful imagery invokes a stillness and reflection, particularly in the context of how what’s visible on the surface doesn’t always reveal what’s truly beneath.
The EP’s title track unveils a more haunting chilliness, as solemn keys and and funk-touched guitars move into the perseverant “and I will go it alone,” soaring. An especially magnetic shift shows prior to the two-minute turn, with spacey synth injections alongside the emotive vocal layers. This track captures the tension between isolation and determination, using imagery of an uphill climb to symbolize self-reliance in the face of doubt, fear, and external pressures.
A soulful, heartfelt sound consumes on “Ennui,” touting aesthetical shades of Kate Bush in the prancing piano, mysterious synths, and dynamic vocal character. The lyrical prowess is particularly poignant in its modern perspectives of self; emotional numbness, existential dissatisfaction, and the struggle to find meaning are conveyed within the context of the “American Dream.” Previously featured gem “Isolation Inside” comes next, and then the EP is capped off in satiating form by an electronic/funk cohesiveness via “This Peak (Power Station Crystal Disco Remix).” This Peak is a fully absorbing succes sfrom Caroline in the Garden.
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“The Underside” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
