As a member of the new garde of Nashville songwriters who are eschewing commercial shine for a more traditional, rootsy approach to country music, Caitlin Rose emerged as a singer to watch with her understated 2010 debut album Own Side Now.
The Stand-In is a bigger album than its predecessor in a number of ways: more instrumentation, bigger production and a broader palette of songs. All of this doesn’t add up to a better record though.
At times the LP feels like a show reel designed to prove Rose’s songwriting prowess when the country pop tunes are interspersed with tracks like the slow building “Everywhere I Go” or the closing track “Old Numbers” with its New Orleans horns and dust covered vibe.
While there are still plenty of top notch tunes on which Rose can let her classical country sweet voice roam, the production is much more smooth, the by-product of which is a softening of the emotional and sonic highs and lows which made her debut album stand out as much as it did.
Rose has the genuine voice and feel of a golden era of modern music, in the right hands she could do for country music what Amy Winehouse did for soul. The Stand-In is adept at showing the talents but not necessarily the potential of a promising artist.
