In just a few days, the indie rock singer-songwriter Caroline Rose will release Gentling The Horse At The Walt Whitman Mall, the new album that they recorded with producer John Congleton. We’ve posted their singles “Chow Mein,” “Calm,” and “Hello Again, Jim.” As the release date nears, Rose has revealed one additional track, “Valery (please don’t be mad at me).” It comes across as a bright, high-energy power-pop piece that ramps up into some delightfully jagged, screeching moments. Here is Rose’s take on the song:
A lot of this record draws from stories from my hometown and blends them with memories from my time in NYC, so some characters might be composites of two or three different people. “Valery” combines the memory of my best friend from home, who passed away from a heroin overdose many years ago, with another friend I cared for who also fell into heroin addiction and faced a really tough life. I’m drawn to people who have faced hardship, and those experiences often show up as characters in my songs.
Below, hear the studio version of “Valery (please don’t be mad at me),” as well as a video of Rose and their band performing the track live at Permanent Records in LA.
Gentling The Horse At The Walt Whitman Mall is out 10/23 on Rose’s own label SUCK records.
