On Caroline Cotter’s brand new album, “Gently as I Go,” she sings her truths and her emotions in a voice that is ethereal and light, haunting and bright, capturing the listener’s attention and not letting go for the duration of the record’s 11 tracks. The instrumental simplicity lets her words and her message shine. It’s compelling and enchanting, comforting and cozy; Cotter’s music is like wrapping up in a comfy afghan on a chilly day, enveloping you in its genuine warmth.

Vents Magazine sat down with Cotter to talk about the new album, and we took a dive into the creation of the song “The Year of the Wrecking Ball,” including its inspiration and the writing process and lyrics. We chatted about her gentle, rootsy sound, how the album came together, and what’s next for this tremendously talented artist.

Hi Caroline, welcome to VENTS! You have an amazing new album that just came out. What can you tell us about it? How did you put this collection of songs together?

Thank you! I wrote this collection of songs while I was touring to support my last album, “Home on the River.” I started writing these songs in 2017 and wrote the last couple in January 2020. The songs are timestamps with themes around gratitude, grace, letting go, and moving along.

One of the songs on your new album, “The Year of the Wrecking Ball,” is really special and caught my attention right away. Love the quiet, yet intense, vibe. It’s a great listen. Can you talk to us more about this song? How did you come to write it? What was the inspiration behind it?

I had most of the songs written when I started recording the album in December 2019. In January, I had a forced break for an artist’s residency in Florida, and I spent the time writing. I wrote a few songs but only decided to put a couple of them on the album, “The Year of the Wrecking Ball” and “Do You Love Me?” I wrote “The Year of the Wrecking Ball” reflecting on the years growing up in my childhood home, the heartache of saying goodbye when my parents divorced and sold it, and the gratitude that I have for the shifts in our relationships in the years that have followed, despite the hard times.

Do you have a favorite lyric line or two in this song? What about those words really works for you or speaks to you?

One of my favorite lines from that song, just lyrically as a writer is, “Carpets worn thin from secrets stuffed in, there’s only so much you can hide.” To me, it paints a picture of this place that had seen so much that it was busting at the seams, begging for a change.

What do you hope listeners get from hearing the song? What do you hope the song’s message is?

I hope it gives comfort and hope. After enough time, it can be possible to look back on really challenging times and feel gratitude for all of it because of the new life that was made possible by the shifts and changes.

What was the recording process like in the studio for the album overall?

This was my first time working with Alec Spiegelman as producer and sound engineer. He is so creative, a super talented multi-instrumentalist, and a great friend in the sense that he helped to keep me feeling relaxed and comfortable during a process that typically gives me a lot of anxiety. The anxiety wasn’t gone, but Alec has a way of staying positive and relaxed himself that sets a great tone for the studio.

We recorded the album in three sessions; a week in December 2019, a week in February 2020, and the first week in March 2020. Alec’s studio is in Ditmas Park in Brooklyn, so we had a great community of local musicians to work with. Because the recording sessions were so spread out, we had different musicians on half of the tracks. It was a fun experience in the sense that I got to work with a lot more musicians that way.

Your sound on this album is really rootsy, with lots of folk and some Americana flavors. The result is really great. How did you settle upon your overall sound for the album? It’s very stripped-back overall – which really lets the lyrics shine. Did you ever entertain the idea of more instrumentation on the record, or did you always want it to be a very acoustic release?

Thanks! I do tend toward simple and acoustic just because I’ve spent so much time performing as a solo artist. This album does have more experimental production than my last two albums, but still pretty simple.

What else is happening next for you?

I’m looking forward to playing album release shows and getting out on the road more this year. I’ve been writing some new songs, and working with a group of musicians in Maine on some of the new ones, so at some point I may start recording again. But for now, I’ll just look forward to sharing this new music.