Career Woman’s indie rock single “No Alibi” is infectious and thought-provoking: Singer/songwriter Melody Caudill scratches the deepest layers of existence with youthful wit and slow-cooked vulnerability.
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Stream: “No Alibi” – Career Woman
You grew up inside a series of unfortunate events
I knew of the truth but didn’t know the meaning yet
I am living in the future like it’s paved in cement
But it’s liquid
These days, the experience of dissociation is highly prevalent, especially amongst young folks.
Social media has drastically affected our ability to distinguish reality from performance, resulting in a disorienting and constant blending of the two. If you’re listening presently in a conversation, you may find the people you’re talking to are surprised or even uncomfortable when engaged earnestly: it’s as if constant anonymity has become the new norm.
I keep eating like I’m stuck in the apocalypse
I keep reading but I don’t remember words i read
and I keep sleeping like I’ll never close my eyes again
Or like it’s permanent
Enter Los Angeles-born, Santa Cruz-based singer/songwriter Career Woman, the moniker for Melody Caudill. Caudill’s childhood was imbued early on with the hearty sounds of rock, punk, indie, emo and the glimmering echoes of classic folk melodies. As a child, she wrote and performed with her father, also a musician (Jeff Caudill of Gameface and currently, Low Coast), and by the time she hit her early teenage years, had written many elaborate, musically and lyrically complex indie rock tracks. Her earliest work provides a glimpse into the churning mechanisms of an old soul trapped in a young body, striving to make sense of a strange, rapidly changing world through fresh eyes.
Career Woman had been hovering in my algorithmic and social orbit for a few years, but we finally collided in perfect cosmic timing.
Her grandmother, Barbara Mendes, is a psychedelic, biblically-learned visual artist with a vibrant gallery space in South Robertston (SoRo), Los Angeles. I was on a long walk when I was stopped by the sight of a colorful, sprawling, and highly intricate mural on the side of a building, swirling with holy figures and seemingly endless ethereal scenes.
Before I could lose myself in the wonderland of the piece for an hour (as I had begun to intend), a small, older woman dressed in hot pink-accented attire emerged from the gallery and introduced herself as the artist. I couldn’t believe my good fortune. Barbara was wild and open: we quickly began to connect on many levels, spiritual and philosophical, and I spent the day drinking black tea in her apartment above the gallery. As the sun set, she shared that her granddaughter was a musician, so naturally, I asked if she would play me a song. With shooting beams of golden light filling the room, I began to hear, emerging from Barbara’s portable speaker, a song I had loved for months. The universe at work.
When will this feel like real life?
When do I get to be on the inside?
It all keeps slipping by
No alibi, no alibi, no alibi
On “No Alibi” (released on November 1, 2023 via Lauren Records), it’s as if Career Woman has taken it upon herself to pierce the facade of our collective social dance, saying the quiet part out loud. Her cutting lyricism is poetic, yet fits so effortlessly inside a gritty indie rock soundscape that one hardly processes the emotional depth of the track until the final note. Career Woman laments the heaviness she carries with her, but she does so with levity and endearing self-deprecation. Her satisfying chord progression conjures deep nostalgia, reminding us of the relief that comes with confronting pain.
The only time I don’t feel offbeat
is when I’m in the pit
It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing
when you’re bathing in sweat
And I’ll keep pushing
til I’m out of breath and try again
Until I don’t care
The single is beautifully structured, scratching every indie pop itch while leaving listeners hungry. Caudill welcomes us in with clear and bright electric guitar, systematically building tension with driving percussion. Her vocals are refreshing and raw: her harmonies crunchy enough to bend the ear and subvert the experience, but traditional enough to certify her as an intuitive songwriter. The melodies she weaves seem to come straight from her core, as though the track was built around a tune that appeared in her mind and refused to leave.
When will this feel like real life?
When do I get to be on the inside?
It all keeps slipping by
No alibi, no alibi, no alibi
Infusing just the right amount of drama, the outro might just be my favorite piece of the track.
Caudill has done what she came to do – given us a much-needed void into which we have all screamed – and like an apparition, she fades out on the wings of layered vocals and juicy harmonies. As she exits, she poses one last haunting yet simple question:
Where was I?
When I was young, where was I?
Where was I?
When I was young, where was I?
Join Career Woman on her journey into the unknown. You may not be in control, but if you take a page from her book and remain open, you just might like where you end up.
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Stream: “No Alibi” – Career Woman
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© Colleen McPhillips
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