Q&A: Caroline Romano Finds Beauty in the Fall on “it took me falling”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
Photo Credit: Maggie London
CAROLINE ROMANO IS LETTING HER WALLS DOWN — Rising alt-pop singer-songwriter Caroline Romano is stepping into a softer, braver chapter of her artistry. With her new EP it took me falling arriving March 13 alongside the tender new single “Unsteady,” Romano offers a luminous meditation on love and the personal evolutions it took for her to be in the current chapter of her life.
It took me falling is a six-track snapshot of personal evolution and a coming-of-age rooted in surrender. Where past releases leaned into sharp-edged alt-rock catharsis, this project unfolds with softer guitars and evocative, soothing vocals.
“I started writing it took me falling before I knew what it was called or what it would be at the very end of 2024,” Romano says to Luna. “I was falling in love for what, in my experience, felt like the first time. It felt very different, and it felt very safe and the real thing that I've been reading about all my life. I was writing all these songs I'd never been able to emotionally write before.”
That emotional unlocking pulses through “Unsteady,” one of the EP’s most tender moments. Built around delicate vocals, the track is soft, intentional, and unafraid to surrender to vulnerability. Romano leans into the paradox of feeling “soft and brave and terrified and happy” all at once, capturing the vertigo of letting yourself fall without armor.
As the songs accumulated, a throughline revealed itself. “I was looking back through those songs once I had a few of them together, and I realized how it had taken me falling into so many wrong things and into so many of the wrong ways prior to ending up where I am today,” she explains. “I used to resent the past hurt and things that I didn't understand why I was going through it. This EP is really about just accepting that and being grateful for them, because it led me to the right thing.”
Since the release of her 16-track debut album, Oddities and Prodigies, in 2022, Romano’s built a reputation for versatility. Known for her high-energy live performances, Romano has packed out rooms across Nashville and brought her magnetic presence on tour supporting Grayscale and Smallpools. To celebrate the release of it took me falling, she’ll headline The End on March 13 with special guests Valories and Cam Becker.
If Oddities and Prodigies introduced Romano as a fearless storyteller, it took me falling reveals an artist willing to sit with the chaos of love and call it beautiful. In embracing the falls, the wrong turns, the heartbreak, the confusion, she’s found steadiness. And in that steadiness, her most honest work yet.
Photo Credit: Maggie London
LUNA: Welcome back and thank you for talking to Luna again. It's super exciting to have you back since the last time we talked when “Doesn’t Matter” was released. I would love to catch up and see how life has been treating you and what have you been up to since the last time we talked.
CAROLINE: Since “Doesn't Matter,” I’ve been finding my voice as an artist and a writer and getting to know myself more. What I want to say is, I feel like I've done a lot of growing up in that time surrounding “Doesn't Matter,” and especially in the last two years since then, just a lot more self discovery and growing up and working. It's been a fun season, but just a lot of music.
LUNA: You’ve described it took me falling as capturing personal growth and resilience. What inspired the EP and what thematic ground or emotions did you feel drawn to explore this time around?
CAROLINE: I started writing it took me falling before I knew what it was called or what it would be at the very end of 2024 and I was falling in love for what, in my experience, felt like the first time. It felt very different, and it felt very safe and the real thing that I've been reading about all my life. I was writing all these songs I'd never been able to emotionally write before. I was looking back through those songs once I had a few of them together, and I realized how it had taken me falling into so many wrong things and into so many of the wrong ways prior to ending up where I am today. I used to resent the past hurt and things that I didn't understand why I was going through it. This EP is really about just accepting that and being grateful for them, because it led me to the right thing.
LUNA: Do you have a personal favorite song on it took me falling — one that feels closest to your heart or most revealing of who Caroline Romano is right now?
CAROLINE: This is tough because I feel like there’s a lot of different sounds happening. The one that is closest to my heart, that I don't think will necessarily be everyone’s exact favorite, is probably “There It Is,” because it's literally just the entire story of this love that I fell into for the real thing at the right time, and it's just very personal and special. I've never been able to write a song like that before.
LUNA: Last time we talked, you said that genre is something that people try to pin on newer up-and-coming artists, but that's always been something that’s really hard for you. Have you stepped into that pop-punk or punk-rock energy at all on it took me falling, and what’s that experience been like for you creatively?
CAROLINE: I still am still in the same boat as I feel like I have a hard time pinning down what my sound is, because I just write based off of the emotions. I think my heart will always live in that alternative pop, a little bit of the punk rock scene, that's just who I am internally. But for this EP, I wanted to take a step back and let it be the emotions that I was feeling, which were soft and sweet for the first time. There's less aggressive elements of punk rock, and more of the cool guitar moments and some pop infused with that.
Photo Credit: Maggie London
LUNA: With “Used by You” embracing a heavier sound, do you feel like the EP as a whole gives you more space to explore different energies and textures than your previous releases?
CAROLINE: I think a lot of people who have been familiar with my music in the past might find this EP a little bit of a sonic shock in some ways, and I'm just letting this EP be that. I'm not going to try to fit it into a larger thing. It's just going to be this sweet little story. It was really fun to experiment with different elements and add more intense pop elements into these tracks.
LUNA: Looking back from your previous EP How the Good Girls Die to now, what’s one thing you’ve held onto and one thing you’ve let go of creatively?
CAROLINE: I love that question. I think definitely the storyline aspect. From start to finish, when I'm writing a project, I like there to be a beginning and end, and you can see this story all happening. I've definitely held on to that aspect of I'd like it to be a concise narrative, because that just pleases something in my childhood, Percy Jackson reader heart or something. One thing I've let go of is trying to make something sound exciting. I think the music I'm drawn to often is not necessarily sonically exciting to listen to at times. I think that's something I've just let go of, is trying to force something, just to catch people's ears.
LUNA: How do you hope listeners — especially your femme audience — can connect with or find power in this new era of music from you? What emotions or messages do you want to leave with them?
CAROLINE: I love that question, too. I feel like as a woman, there's often been times in my life where I feel like I've been told I feel a little bit too much, and I have to kind of reign that in and maybe not express my feelings in certain ways because it's a little bit overdramatic. That's something I was afraid of coming across as, am I too much all the time? But part of the EP is realizing that I had to let myself feel all of those things and completely be in those moments that in the past might have had my walls up for. I think that's something I really want people to take away from this is just allowing yourself to be whoever you are and feel whatever you're feeling, and it's shaping you in some way.
LUNA: How are you planning on celebrating the EP release?
CAROLINE: I'm doing my first ever Nashville headline show day of the EP release on March 13, which I'm super excited about, because I played Nashville more times than I can count as an opener, but I've never played a headliner. I'm very, very stoked.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
CAROLINE: I'm feeling very optimistic, but also not totally sure about what the next move is yet, which is my favorite thing about coming out of a project is because I really can do anything right now. With this current era of music, and just where I'm in my career, there's so many paths you can go down, and so many different ways you can decide to progress your career. It's a little bit of that anxious excitement, I think. For the rest of the year, definitely a lot more music working on some touring opportunities, which I'm very, very, very excited about and just figuring out the next part of the story.
