Last Updated on 2025-09-17 by a-indie
The eight-piece indie rock band caroline from London, England.
Their second album ‘caroline 2’, released in May 2025, has garnered worldwide attention following their debut album ‘caroline’, and is already an undeniable masterpiece that secures its place among the year’s best albums.
It’s such an incredible album that I worry words might cheapen it, but there’s no doubt this is music that could only be heard if these eight people played together on that particular day at that particular moment—music that only they could create.
Throughout the album, they value improvisation and present ephemeral beauty and transience. Chaos and harmony coexist, and the contrast and gradation between them is what truly moves the listener.
This time, we conducted an interview with band member Jasper Llewellyn the day before their first Japan tour.
While savoring the joy of being able to directly tell Jasper how moved I was by this work, I asked him about how the band was formed, how ‘caroline 2’ was completed, and about his roots and mentality during live performances.
It was regrettable that we couldn’t ask everything we wanted due to time constraints, but Jasper’s sincere and incredibly thoughtful responses embodied caroline’s music itself, and this interview confirmed that caroline is caroline precisely because he is at its center.
About caroline’s History and Member Composition
Artist: Jasper Llewellyn Interviewer: Yuuki Takita Interpreter: Editing & Proofreading: BELONG Media / A-indie
-Yuuki Takita: It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Yuuki Takita from the Japanese music media, BELONG Media. I discovered your music with your debut album. I’ve been a fan since the beginning, seeing you as one of the representative bands of the London scene, alongside others like Black Country, New Road. It’s a real honor to be able to interview you today.
Jasper Llewellyn: Thank you for having me.
-Yuuki Takita: I’d like to get started right away. Our publication values the roots of artists and the background from which their music is born. First, could you tell us about the band caroline itself? I understand it originated from weekly improvised sessions between you, Casper, and Mike, but could you briefly explain the process of how you grew into the current eight-member lineup?
Jasper Llewellyn: It started when Casper and I were living together while attending university in Manchester. We both loved music and moved to London together after graduating. Back then, we would play and have jam sessions just for fun, but about nine years ago, we wrote some music together while on holiday. When we returned to London after that trip, we started talking about doing it more seriously. Mike is an old friend from my teenage years; we had a folk band together when we were kids, and he’s an excellent musician, so I asked him to play guitar. Initially, just Casper and I had a very rough, post-punky unit where I played drums. While it was creatively fulfilling, we decided to expand from there.
First, Oliver joined. He was originally playing bass and is a very old friend, just like Mike. Casper and Mike were only acquaintances at the time, but Mike’s guitar playing was so fantastic that we officially welcomed him as a member. The three of us—me, Casper, and Mike—then wrote ‘Dark blue’ and ‘Good morning (red)’, which are on the first album. That was about eight and a half years ago, with me on drums. The three of us created the vocal, guitar, and drum parts, and then Oliver added a bass part to that.
After that, we wrote a song called ‘Skydiving onto the library roof’, which had a strong free-improvisation feel, so we had Hugh, who plays improvisational drums, join us. Incidentally, Oliver, who had joined on bass, played the violin for the first time on ‘Dark blue’ and has been our violinist ever since. Then, Magdalena, who was introduced to us by Oliver’s manager, joined after playing violin with us at a live show. The way the two violins intertwined sounded so good that we asked her to join as well.
Next, we felt we needed a wind instrument and decided we wanted a trumpet. Casper’s childhood friend since he was one year old, Freddie, ended up playing the trumpet for us. However, it’s important to note that neither Hugh on drums nor Freddie play on every song on the album; they contribute to specific tracks. Later, we thought about adding a saxophone and had someone join for a bit, but because the first album was so minimalist, his sax part was only a single note. He told us, “This is boring, I can’t do it,” and quit. Right around that time, Alex messaged us on Instagram saying, “Let me know if you ever need a flute, clarinet, or sax,” so they joined, and that completed the eight of us. That was just before the COVID pandemic, and we signed with Rough Trade Records around the same time. The combination of the pandemic and the contract gave us time to solidify as this eight-piece, and we’ve been in this current lineup for about five or six years now.
About the Production of Latest Album ‘caroline 2’
-Yuuki Takita: Thank you. That detailed explanation gave me a very clear picture of caroline’s history. I’d like to ask about your latest album, ‘caroline 2’. The theme was described as “a state of simultaneity, where very different elements coexist.” Listening to it, the most moving point for me was the contrast and gradation between chaos and harmony that emerges from the eight members freely playing and collaborating. It felt almost like a law of nature. When aiming for that harmony as an eight-piece, is there anything you’re particularly mindful of during recording?
Jasper Llewellyn: When we write a song, it usually starts with an idea from me, Mike, or Casper, or the three of us will start writing together. We decide on the direction and structure—the framework—as a trio before we play as an eight-piece. So by the time we actually play the music together, a certain set of parameters has already been established, which I think helps the process go smoothly. We start as a three, then play as an eight, then go back to a three to edit, and then play as an eight again. We move back and forth between the small group and the large group, and that’s how we find the right balance.
Musical Creation Process Where Chemical Reactions Emerge
-Yuuki Takita: I see. I imagine there are two types of songs: those that are completed just as you initially envisioned, and those that take an unexpected turn due to the chemical reaction of all eight members playing together. From the new album, could you give one example of a song that turned out as planned, and one that ended up in a different form because of the eight-person creative process?
Jasper Llewellyn: Most of the songs end up far from the initial idea or concept. The exception would be the sixth track, ‘Coldplay cover’. This song was based on vocal and guitar parts I had written a long time ago. We combined those with an idea we had for recording: live recording in two separate rooms of a house with a microphone moving between them. This concept fit the song perfectly, so it ended up just as we had initially imagined. However, because this recording method is very open-ended, when we tried it with other songs, they almost always turned out completely different from the initial idea.
Approach to Live Performance
Jasper Llewellyn: Reproducing our recordings live is always a challenge. The recorded songs are structured to move between different versions, takes, and places. It’s difficult to express that perfectly in a live setting, but we always try to at least recreate the atmosphere of when we made it. For example, the first track, ‘Total euphoria’, is quite simple in its construction, so I think we can perform it as is. But the last track, ‘Beautiful ending’, uses a lot of collage techniques, so it’s a big challenge to figure out how to express that collage feeling live while preserving it. We love the songs we made for the album, so we’re always challenging ourselves to find ways to reproduce them live as best we can.
Musical Roots and Influences
-Yuuki Takita: This will have to be my last question, but I’d like to ask about your roots once more. Could you name one album that influenced the music of caroline, and one album that has influenced your own personal playing?
Jasper Llewellyn: American Football is definitely a reference when we write guitar parts. As for this new album, during the final stages, Mike and I spent about seven months working on production on the computer, and the album I listened to most during that time was Slauson Malone 1’s ‘A Quiet Farwell, 2016–2018 (Crater Speak)’. It’s a work that deconstructs and collages pop music, and I think it had a big impact on this record.
As for my personal playing, as time has gone on, my role as a singer has grown. On the first album, I played drums and cello, but now I’m on guitar and vocals, and sometimes I just sing with no instrument at all. I find it to be a terrifying situation, but because of that, it has led me to think of my voice more as an instrument. In that sense, for vocals, I’m influenced by the singing of Still House Plants. I love their vocalist’s deep voice and her use of the low register. I was particularly impressed by their latest album, ‘If I Don’t Make It, I Love U’. As a guitarist, Adrianne Lenker’s recent solo albums are very inspiring to me.
-Yuuki Takita: Thank you very much. I still have so many things I wanted to ask, but we’re out of time. Thank you for your time today.
caroline Album Release
2nd Album ‘caroline 2’
Release Date: May 30, 2025
Track List:
1. Total euphoria
2. Song two
3. Tell me I never knew that (ft. Caroline Polachek)
4. When I get home
5. U R UR ONLY ACHING
6. Coldplay cover
7. Two riders down
8. Beautiful ending
9. _you never really get that far_ (Bonus Track for Japan)
10. Before you get home from the club bathroom (Bonus Track for Japan)
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caroline Profile
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Writer: Yuuki Takita
Born in 1991, freelance writer from Tomakomai, Hokkaido. After graduating from the same university as TEAM NACS, he entered a music vocational school and majored in the writer course.
There, he produced three music free papers and conducted everything from artist interviews to editing.
Using that experience, he joined a cross music media company with both free papers and web media, where he experienced writing and editing review articles and sales.
After leaving the company, he changed jobs to become a clerk at a major record shop, where he also wrote disc review articles for the company’s own media.
This led him to begin his activities as a freelance music writer. Currently, he is a salaryman and music writer who dreams of organizing an outdoor music festival in his hometown of Tomakomai.
He enjoys cats, movie watching, and reading. Komatsu Nana and curry & biryani exploration are his lifestyle.
Articles he has written so far can be found here
Articles written for other media can be found here
Twitter: @takita_funky
- is a music media platform run by BELONG, a Japanese music organization. We publish music articles with a focus on indie music.