Carina Round has certainly been around for a few years but I’ve only discovered her in the last 18 months at best. Her latest album is nearing completion so I think it’s high time we gave her some love here at Higher Plain Games and told you all to buy her most recent EP “Things You Should Know”.
Opener “Backseat” is stunningly beautiful working from a simple ditty on a keyboard to slowly swell up with strings, brass and a chorus of vocals singing over and over the same two lines as is bursts into a fanfare. It feels like you’ve burst into a new life. In contrast the sultry “Please Don’t Stop” feeds off sparse guitar arrangements and strong vocal performances as the song ebbs and flows in places that song’s aren’t traditionally supposed to. The result is something fresh and effecting as it evolves and builds into a rocking finale.
“Thief in the Sky” is another excellent track which is acoustic guitar led but gets leg slapping angsty for the choruses. It leads perfectly into the epic “Do You” which is predominantly a guitar/vocal track that is hypnotic and enticing because the vocals are so hushed and the guitar melodic you don’t expect it when Carina suddenly bursts into frenzies at certain points in the track. The closer is the title track and it is wonderfully understated with its marching percussive edges muted behind the collage of guitars and vocals.
Carina Round shows that while she can easily rock it out with massive riffs, she can equally match them with some of the most smoulderingly beautiful melancholic quiet rock too. One of the best EP’s in recent years.