video review: 'mint condition' by caroline spence

Okay, extremely late for this one, but considering how many of my friends have recommended this time and time again, I figured I'd tackle it.

Next up... hmm, not sure yet, stay tuned!

album review: 'mint condition' by caroline spence

So we've reached the part of the year where the major releases have started to seriously dry up and I'm stuck poring over what I've missed - yes, I was thinking about covering Lady Antebellum or Madeon, but neither were particularly interesting in sound or content and that really is the reason why I created the Trailing Edge in the first place and how plans for next year will be able to rectify this sort of situation - stay tuned for an announcement mid-December about that - so why not go back and cover an indie country album that really intrigued me? That sounds more fun, right?

Well here's the thing: when I first starting researching for this album and went back to listen to Caroline Spence's 2015 project Somehow, I was really not impressed. Yeah, the vocals were pretty but the production was very sedate and low-key and I wasn't really wowed by the writing, so it took me months to work up the energy to dig deeper. And yet I'm really glad I did, because 2017's Spades & Roses is genuinely excellent, with way better vocal positioning, writing that had developed an idiosyncratic cadence and style and several deeper notches of nuance, and production that had taken its spare organic country vibe with just enough reverb and multi-tracking to accentuate the striking melodies - not quite as warm or strident as Courtney Marie Andrews, but absolutely playing in the same ballpark of quality. It was one of those projects that had me kicking myself I couldn't have found it two years ago, but it made me absolutely certain I had to cover Mint Condition, her album this year - so what did we get?