Unleashing The Soul Of Money

In the 1950s, while Chess Records was churning out Muddy Waters LPs, its in-house subsidiary imprint Checker was putting out rock'n'roll hits by Bo Diddley and Dale Hawkins. In the 1970s, while Stax was raking in Isaac Hayes' “Theme From Shaft” money, the label was also distributing Big Star's #1 Record. There's practically a blueprint in place for Daptone and its new imprint, Wick, through which the gold standard soul institution will start shilling rock music. They're planning records from proven garage rock entities like Mark Sultan and the Ar-Kaics, but the label's proper introduction is the debut album from the Mystery Lights.

"Loner" is Caroline Rose's sophomore album, coming four years after her "I Will Not Be Afraid" debut. The new album sees the Indie Rockabilly musician exploring a more synth-oriented pop sound to bolster her “darkly comedic” songwriting. Rose co-produced Loner alongside Paul Butler at Stinson Beach, California’s Panoramic Studios. It’s her most hands-on effort yet, as she wrote and arranged everything herself while playing keys, guitar, and bass; programming synths and drums; handling mixing; and controlling the entire creative aesthetic.