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Carol Hodge is a seven-fingered, piano-pounding, Yorkshire-dwelling Singer-Songwriter. Think Alanis Morissette meets Carole King, but with fewer digits and a continuous existential crisis, sandwiched between bitter irony and relentless optimism. You won’t know whether to laugh or cry, but will definitely feel something. In case she looks familiar, Carol recently won Classic Rock’s Track Of The Week reader vote, is a long-term collaborator with Crass founder Steve Ignorant, plays keys for Ginger Wildheart, and has guested with the likes of Headsticks, The Membranes, Joe Solo and Paul Morricone.
Tomorrow sees the release of ‘Manoeuvres’, the first release from Carol’s forthcoming fifth studio album ‘Effortless Insecurity’.
Manoeuvres is a gloves off, claws out retort to the fakers.
The song evokes the sound of Queen Adreena fist fighting with Queens Of The Stone Age in a dingy basement, while Queen smash the life out of a dusty old Hammond in the corner.
Carol pulls no punches with the spiky lyrical content:
Constantly catastrophise and threaten your exit
Violence will do nothing cause it’s just what you wanted
Play the victim, how you love it
Dress it up as something other than
All these false manoeuvres
As she further explains, this is a song that channels ire and disappointment:
“I’m sick and tired of the lack of authenticity from public figures. Whether it’s the evil clowns running our country, or the narcissists clogging up my social media feed, the layers of falsity are sickeningly thick. People seem incapable of honesty, unable to give anything without a demand for reciprocity. Everything is strategic and transactional.”
Oscillating between stomping rage in the verses and dreamy, organ-infused disappointment in the choruses, Manoeuvres sets out the stall for Carol’s upcoming fifth studio album, due for release in September 2024.
Produced by Dave Draper (The Wildhearts, The Professionals, Jazmin Bean, Dodgy, Kerbdog), Manoeuvres sees Hodge sliding effortlessly into a Stoner Rock direction.
The release is accompanied by a music video by videographer Rob Heilig. A black and white, hypnotically manic world of witchcraft and disturbingly lifelike doll faces, the video was shot on location in a ruined cottage in the Colne Valley in West Yorkshire.
Find Carol Hodge online here: https://linktr.ee/carolhodgemusic
Pre-order links HERE
Review quotes for previous releases
“No exaggeration, it’s astonishingly good: driving pop-infused melodies, a deftly-crafted balance between the delicate and the cathartic, contrasting light and shade, power and tenderness. 9/10”
– Vive Le Rock
“A real talent in the realm of smart, on-the-money melodies and bittersweet storytelling through song – lines like ‘it’s easier to hear what I want to believe’ pack a quiet but powerful punch. Sweet, sad and life-affirming all at once.”
– Classic Rock
““THIS” is another killer pop rock track that gets the foot tapping, your voice singing along, and slips a smile on your face. 92%”
– 100 Percent Rock
“A crystal clear infallibly poignant vocal delivered in a way only Carol can, This could bring a tear to a glass eye…Another masterpiece from the Yorkshire lass. ”
– The Ginger Quiff
Photo credits – Rob Heilig
