ENGAGED

Caroline Asplin has a lot on her mind. Important themes in her lyrics are compassion and her best friend who disappeared in the USA a few years ago. But on stage at Rockefeller in Oslo last night most of her tunes felt apart like a house of cards, because didn't quite manage to communicate what her heart was overflowing with.

It is sad, because her honest commitment is also her strenght.

Filled with Clishés
It is difficult to understand her English lyrics, which at the same time are too filled with clishes to communicate the gravity of what she stands for.

Another talented Norwegian girl hasthen been tempted to make the Amerikanske chick singer tradition from Carol King to Rickie Lee Jones her starting point.

This makes it hard not to become too anonymous.

But Carolines starting poing is good. Because on stage last night she proved that she has an extraordinary great voice, with a remarkably large register. The highligh of the evening was actually her song "Missing", where she accompanied herself on acoustic guitar and used her voice without lyrics. A haunting, beautiful song about her missing friend.

Charming
Caroline is also quite accomplished both on guitar and piano. Yesterday, she also showed that she has several songs which are better than the ones on her new album "Compassion".

On stage, Caroline is at times hopelessly clumsy, something that makes her stage presence a bit charming. She is, after all, a new artist. Caroline had about a hundred enthusiastic listeners at Rockefellerlast night.

Span
Musically speaking, she has great span. Her music is influenced by everything from folk, to rock, jazz and South American rhythms.

On stage last night, she was accompanied by Aage Kvalbein on cello, Bengt Hansen (keys), Steinar Larsen (guitar), Torstein Ellingsen (drums), Katrine Pettersen & Randi Graf (background vocals), Jon Børge Askeland (bass), Vidar Johansen (sax. flute) and Celio de Carvalho (percussion).