“The energy is absolutely FANTASTIC. Not only does the up-tempo vibe keep it moving, there’s also this sense of imminent danger that emanates from the track.” - Ear to the Ground Music
“The pleasant vocals flow smoothly and instantly charm you with relatable lyrics. The agile guitar lines sound playful, yet they are extremely absorbing and interesting to follow.” - Tonic Grain
“It’s pure, honest and relatable. The melodies are beautiful and listening to it feels like watching a beautiful movie.” - Thread
“When you are spinning songs from Mackin Carroll (he/him), you find yourself exploring the mind of someone who is beyond eclectic. The musician’s work taps into the beautiful arrangements from indie rock acts in the early 2000s. You hear elements of folk and undying spirit that are effectively touching.” - Ghettoblaster Magazine
LISTEN TO LEARNING HOW TO SWIM: HERE
Los Angeles’ Mackin Carroll has released his debut full-length album Learning How to Swim out today. The album is 11 Introspective songs of hi-fi, homespun recordings that range from whispers to shouts, from solo singer-songwriter tracks to fuller rock arrangements with psychedelic drum machines, and hints of Americana that drift into dream pop. But underneath all the rich layers and textures, is pure honest emotion and dynamic songwriting that paints a beautiful picture of the inner and delicate workings of Carroll’s soul.
This album started to take shape at the heart of the pandemic. Carroll had done some producing before this record, but the forced isolation gave him no choice but to dig in. So dig he did, obsessively writing and recording demos in his room. He enlisted a group of trusted peers for feedback and credits working on this album for getting him through the first year of the pandemic.
The album starts with the title track and most recent single "Learning How to Swim,” which is about childhood depression and not being armed with the tools to overcome it, and the space that creates between you and your loved ones. It's Carroll writing both as his younger self and to his younger self, assuring him that even though he feels like he’s drowning, he’ll learn how to swim. “I heard Duncan Trussell on his podcast reference something to the effect of ‘the madman drowns in the same waters that the mystic swims,’” Carroll told Atwood Magazine, “ and that dynamic of swimming vs. drowning really stuck with me. It’s really about finding equanimity as a hyper-emotional person and navigating the intensity that comes with that. And it feels like that’s what the heart-wisdom that comes with age is: not getting out of the water, but learning how to swim.”
Leading into the album Carroll released the bright, folk-rocky tune packed to the brim with fresh sounding lyrics and witticisms called “Anxious in the Alley,” written right after he graduated from college that focuses on the anxiety of feeling too old and too young at the same time. The next single, “Black Hole Song (I Miss You)”, is a breakup song inspired by outer space that Ghettoblaster Magazine said was "Forthcoming with a level of chillness and openness...." It was written at the beginning of the end of a romantic relationship, right around when NASA took the first picture of a black hole. The song contemplates the questions such as ‘Where does love go when it leaves?’ ‘Where does matter go when it passes through a black hole?’ All explored over a saturated drum machine and creamy, echoey guitars.
The third single, “Vampires' ' released right before Halloween, Carroll wrote when he was 19 and is the oldest song on the record. Heavily influenced by Wilco’s A Ghost Is Born. The song is about emotional vampires, projection and anxiety.
Raised in the suburbs of Southern California, Carroll cut his teeth in scrappy garage bands, playing bass guitar and shouting his poetry that he wrote in his bedroom or in the back of math class. These days, Carroll, often clad in a skirt or dress (wearing traditionally female clothing helps him feel free) always catches fire live, shouting and whispering, transcending and connecting. Harkening back to the melancholia of 00’s indie artists Carroll describes his influences as “If they were carpooling, Conor Oberst would be driving, Sufjan Stevens would call shotgun, and Jeff Tweedy and Ben Gibbard would be staring out the windows in the back seat, while Ben Folds was tied up in the trunk”. He studied bass in college and spent a summer busking in Galway, Ireland after getting kicked off of a farm while crafting some of the songs for this record. In addition to this record, he occasionally scores audio dramas and short films and has had a podcast called “Happy Sad Talk Thing" that he’s done for five years where he interviews other creatives, gets personal, and mostly says silly shit while messing around on the Wurlitzer patch on his keyboard.
KEEP UP WITH MACKIN CARROLL
PRESS ASSETS | smarturl.it/MackinCarrollPR
INSTAGRAM // FACEBOOK // TWITTER // SPOTIFY// YOUTUBE