Today singer-songwriter Caroline Spence releases her highly anticipated fourth studio album True North. The critically acclaimed sequel to 2019’s Mint Condition – hailed by Rolling Stone as a “magnificent reflection on finding peace amidst upheaval” – True North’s twelve songs delve into the depths of grief, growth and endless complexities of human nature. The result is a tour de force that affirms Spence as a truly incomparable songwriter, reinforcing his profound ability to pack so much insight into songs that illuminate and mesmerize.
Despite the myriad challenges of writing and recording an album during a global pandemic, Spence has found the experience of collaborating with producer Jordan Lehning liberating. As she recalls, “For this album, I wanted to have a genre-free experience – I heard the songs in a more colorful and cinematic way than the usual treatment of tracking a live band with Americana instrumentation, so I wanted to work in a way where we weren’t trapped by it There was a lot of playing involved, a lot of painting all over the songs and adding new layers, and I loved the freedom of not knowing what we would end up with.
With its unfettered expression of pain, loss, longing and joy, True North finally achieves a level of openness that Spence regards as enchanted responsibility – the very sense of unwavering purpose encapsulated in the title of the album. “I constantly realize that my job is to get to that place where I’m able to put words to things that sometimes seem impossible to talk about,” she says.
“So even though this album is a little microcosm of my own experience, I know other people will relate to these stories. For me, writing songs isn’t about being cool or even being wise, it’s about – as Mary Oliver says – “paying attention, wondering and telling. I don’t think I have the answers, but I think my job is to seek them out so you don’t have to feel so overwhelmed with the questions.”
Caroline Spence will be touring throughout 2022. A list of confirmed tour dates is below, and new dates (including rescheduled shows) will be announced in the coming weeks.
Tour dates:
5/6 St. Louis, Missouri, Blueberry Hill
5/7 Berwyn, Ill., Fitzgerald’s
5/8 St. Paul, MN, Turf Club
5/12 Decatur, AL, Singer-Songwriter Series @ Princess Theater
5/18 Tulsa, OK, Mercury Lounge
5/19 Fort Worth, Texas, The Post at River East
5/20 Austin, Texas, Saxon Pub
5/21 Eden, TX, Green Apple Arts Center
5/22 The Woodlands, TX, Dosey Doe
5/27 Decatur, GA, Eddie’s Attic
6/10 Stockholm, Sweden Sthlm Americana
6/11 Copenhagen, Denmark Ideal Bar (Vega)
6/12 Oslo, Norway Oslo Americana
6/17 Tunbridge Wells, UK Black Deer Festival
6/25 Blind Tiger, Greensboro, North Carolina*
6/26 Washington, DC, 9:30 a.m. Club*
6/27 Underground Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania*
6/28 Brooklyn, NY, made in Brooklyn*
6/30 The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA*
7/01 Richmond, Virginia, The National*
Mercury Ballroom 7/2, Louisville, Kentucky*
8/12 Outlandia 2022, Bellevue, NE
8/24 Smith Center for the Arts, Geneva, NY%
9/4 Caveman Music Festival, Weston, CO
9/13 AmericanaFest 2022, Nashville, TN
9/30 Sisters Folk Festival 2022, Sisters, OR
* with American aquarium
%w/ Mary Chapin Charpentier
