Review: Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps - Little Wind

Words // Adam Sharp

It doesn’t take long into Little Wind, the sophomore album from Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps, to realize that they’ve taken a step forward sonically. Before the end of the first verse of album opener ‘Tanktop’ you hear an electric guitar, reverb, pounding drums and some distortion on Caroline Smith’s voice, all things largely (or entirely) absent from the bands debut album. The extra layers and instruments add a punch not found on their previous work and helps to differentiate them from the myriad of bands they could be lumped in with.

The Good Night Sleeps provide fantastically crisp and pleasant backing for Caroline Smith, who’s voice (a sort of mixture of Jolie Holland, Charity Rose Thielen from The Head and The Heart and Sallie Ford) is the star of the album. It stuns and disarms on the haunting ‘Eagle’s Nest,’ manages to sound sweetly dangerous on ‘Denim Boy’ and bursts and blooms perfectly on standout ‘Calliope.’ Little Wind is a collection of songs that shows a band trying different approaches and styles while always remaining true to their core sound, that of a refreshingly honest and sincere indie pop band.

Little Wind is out now and Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps are currently on tour throughout the country. Enjoy two cuts off the album, ‘Calliope’ and ‘Tank Top’ below.

Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps - Tank Top

Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps - Calliope