Franklin Gotham is back with a somber stunner on "Caroline," the preferred single from their ninth EP, "Good Times Bad Times". With a decade of heart-holding songwriting experience under their belts, the alt-indie veterans churn out an irresistible ode to the ones who got away and the feelings that never quite did.
"Caroline" comes in on a glistening indie-pop breeze, with a touch of grit. It's the sort of track that grips you on first listen and never lets go, the kind you might recognize as the sound reverberating down a dorm hallway past midnight or as a distant soundtrack to a moment you didn't yet know would become a memory. The song's power isn't just in its melodic magnetism, though. It's in its emotional clarity, raw, clear-eyed, and overtly human. "Caroline" deals with the aftermath of the kind of love that once went down dark and burning, but left its kind of unresolved ache, the kind that lingers far longer than anyone could reasonably expect. And there's a knowing ache in the delivery, a pain that college-aged listeners and anyone who has loved and lost will relate to immediately.
"Caroline" doesn't hunker down, it looks back. It doesn't dramatize, it watches. The result is a hyper-personal and universally relatable song, an uncommon balancing act in today's indie scene. The melodies soar, the production remains slick and purposeful, and the chorus gives you enough memories to sock you in the chest.
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