Caroline Rose Twists the Typical Story of Stardom on Superstar
The indie-pop artist’s piercing self-awareness elevates her latest album
“We’re gonna put you in the movies and our TV / All you’ve got to do is put on this little bikini,” indie rock chameleon Caroline Rose sang on “Bikini” off her breakout 2018 record Loner. Rose pithily skewered the objectification women must put up with when they enter the limelight and further criticizes the music industry in the accompanying video. She shakes and shimmies as a smarmy male singer, while bikini-clad babes dance behind her or unconvincingly “play” instruments. Their half-hearted performance brought to mind the women in the background of Robert Palmer videos, who serve as ornamentation at best. On Loner, Rose placed the system surrounding fame and celebrity squarely in her crosshairs.
Now, though, as her star is rising, Rose has turned that critical eye inward. Superstar tells a fictionalized, though autobiographically-inspired, story about an up-and-comer seeking a life of stardom, critiquing the protagonist’s self-centered aspirations. It’s an astute pivot for Rose, and an indicator that she is anything but your typical ascendant artist.
Superstar proves itself a tightly knit satire of celebrity, effective thanks to Rose’s sharp storytelling and her calculated use of distortion, which highlights the artificial quality of the protagonist’s new surroundings. “No one is gonna stand in my way / Even if I have to leave this whole city in flames,” Rose sings on the opening track “Nothing’s Impossible,” which is a more melodramatic way of saying every reality contestant’s favorite mantra: “I’m not here to make friends.” The song also sees the protagonist receive a call in error from the Chateau Marmont, a symbol both of Hollywood glamor and the darker side of fame (it’s the site of John Belushi’s untimely death from a drug overdose).