Carolina Chase Finds Beauty in Letting Go on Debut Album 'warwick'

At just 16, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Carolina Chase is introducing a remarkably defined world with debut album warwick. Across eight tracks, Carolina Chase turns growing pains, fractured relationships, digital life, and the search for closure into atmospheric indie-pop that feels distinctly personal.

There’s something immediately unique about Carolina Chase’s approach. At moments, warwick carries the intimate, slightly off-kilter magnetism of early Lorde, particularly that nostalgic era when minimalist pop production could make teenage emotions feel enormous. But Carolina Chase pushes that foundation somewhere different, pulling from trip-hop, grunge, and classic British electronic music inspired by artists like Portishead, Underworld, and Massive Attack.

The album moves through “intro v1,” “a tension,” “microscope reality,” “have you let go yet? (feat. Tyler Lyle),” “on my mind,” “and...,” “pulling me down,” and “no goodbyes,” creating a coming-of-age record centered on acceptance, forgiveness, and learning when to release what can no longer follow you forward.

That emotional thread is especially clear on “on my mind,” where Carolina Chase explores choosing the high road when someone else controls the narrative. Elsewhere, the album repeatedly circles questions of identity, relationships, perception, and what closure actually looks like.

What makes warwick even more compelling is how involved Carolina Chase is in its construction. Every song began on guitar or piano, with Carolina Chase ultimately playing roughly 90% of the guitar, bass, and keys heard throughout the project. Producer Andy Huckvale helps transform those acoustic foundations into an electronic-leaning landscape that can feel intimate one moment and unexpectedly expansive the next.

Named after the English town where it was recorded, and where Carolina Chase’s father grew up, warwick feels appropriately tied to both place and transition. For a debut centered on letting go, Carolina Chase has created something worth holding onto.

You wrote Warwick during a difficult period and described the album as a way of finding light in the darkness. Was there a particular song that was hardest to write or finally gave you the closure you were looking for?

“No Goodbyes” was definitely the most challenging song for me to write. Ironically, I wrote it in about 20 minutes, but it was the honesty behind it that made it so difficult. I’d had the idea for the song for a long time, but I hadn’t yet been able to express what I wanted to say in the right way. Then, the day I finally wrote it, everything just came to me. It almost felt like the song was being sung to me, and I was simply there to write it down. As I was writing, all of these emotions that I’d been holding onto suddenly came to the surface. For the first time, I was able to step back and look at the bigger picture of what was happening around me. I started to understand why I’d been so upset, why I was beginning to realize certain things about myself, and what I’d been putting myself through. In a way, writing the song helped me make sense of everything I was feeling. It was the hardest song I’ve ever written because I had to be completely vulnerable with myself and confront the parts of me I’d been avoiding, but after I wrote it, I was able to let go. 

Every song on warwick began on guitar or piano before evolving into something much more electronic and experimental. Which track changed the most dramatically from its original version, and what pushed you to take it there?

Most of the songs changed pretty drastically, but “No Goodbyes” was definitely the most different from its original version. I wrote it as a soft piano ballad, and it took me a while to get used to the super electronic version before I fell in love with it. Andy really pushed me to take this song further, because I was very attached to the original piano. We tried incorporating it into the track, but it didn’t end up sounding right. I have no regrets when it comes to this song, and I am so glad this version is the version we went with. It heavily reflects the message of the song, especially in the bridge. That is something I really keep in mind with my music, because I believe the production of every song is just as important as the lyrics and vocals in conveying the overall story.

You play roughly 90% of the guitar, bass, and keys across the album, including teaching yourself to write and record basslines. How did becoming more involved as a musician change the way you think about yourself as an artist?

I consider myself a much more qualified artist after recording most of the live elements of the album, but I still have so much to learn, and so much I want to get better at when it comes to everything music-related. The fun part now is being able to play around with the different ways of being able to play these songs in a live setting, whether it be acoustic, full band arrangements, or just me on my MPC and my brother on keys.

There are influences from trip-hop, grunge, ’90s electronic music, and indie-pop throughout warwick. How did discovering artists like Portishead, Underworld, and Massive Attack reshape what you thought a Carolina Chase song could sound like?

I’ve always had a distinct idea of what I wanted my music to be, and the artists I mentioned really helped as a gateway for me to be able to articulate what that sound would be like. I have my dad to thank for showing me these artists who inspire me so much. I grew up listening to many styles of music - from metal to EDM - but it’s only been in the last few years that I’ve been able to pinpoint what I like about each genre and be able to incorporate many different elements into my music, helping me develop my own unique sound. I am constantly trying to do my own thing and break the boundaries of what I thought my music could sound like.

The album keeps returning to closure, forgiveness, and letting go. Now that warwick is finished, do you feel like making the record actually gave you the closure you were searching for, or did it change your understanding of what closure means?

Honestly, I feel like this album was proof to myself that I can get through whatever hardship I am going through, and more importantly, make something beautiful out of it. After all, sometimes the hardest chapters of our lives inspire the most beautiful stories.