New Orleans-based Caroline Chiesa is a producer, vocalist, and songwriter whose work bridges club music and more contemplative sound. She creates her songs herself, pairing airy vocals with house rhythms, shadowy pop, and cinematic ambient textures. She has released a new album, “Outwitting the Stars.” This is Chiesa’s third self-produced collection and her first issued under her own name. Its 12 tracks unfold as a continuous, three-part journey inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Named after a chapter in Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi, the record reflects on the limits of trying to outmaneuver fate, ending with humor rather than triumph. Chiesa made the album in a 19th-century New Orleans home. Her work as a DJ and sound bath practitioner informs its easy movement between dance-floor energy and meditative calm.
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The album opens with “I. Let My Devil Play With Yours,” a slow, dreamy introduction built around complementary keys and deeply emotive vocals. The performance feels almost surreal, drawing you into a meditative state. Beneath its softness, the song explores an attraction where love, desire, obsession, and darkness are difficult to separate. The pull between the two people feels like a mutual temptation: they aren’t looking to be rescued or made innocent, but to find someone who understands, and perhaps shares, their darker impulses.
“I Need a Lobotomy” makes a sharp turn into dance territory. From its first note, pulsing EDM beats and trippy vocals set up an irresistible late-night bop. Its provocative title suits a darkly satirical take on the ways people try to escape discomfort, from drinking and medication to digital distractions and instant gratification. Beneath the club-ready energy is a portrait of someone exhausted by their own thoughts and searching for relief without quite knowing how to face what’s wrong.
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“Alone in a Crowded Room” offers another distinctive, catchy blend of upbeat melody and psychedelic atmosphere. Shimmering synths hover in the background as driving beats and low, hypnotic vocals give the track a buoyant feel. Its subject is more tender: the loneliness of missing someone while surrounded by people. The room may be full of music and movement, but none of it can replace the person the narrator wishes were there.
“There’s No Outwitting the Stars” closes the album on a compelling, danceable note. Teasing, electric beats and sensual vocals create a stylish, dim-lights-on atmosphere that’s hard to resist. The song considers the limits of ambition and intelligence. No amount of planning can guarantee that life will follow our expectations. Its central thought is a humbling one. Sometimes we have to loosen our grip on certainty and let events unfold. As a closer, it’s both a hook-filled send-off and a reminder that not everything can be controlled.
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