Career Woman – lighthouse (demos)
Today, Career Woman, the indie rock project of Melody Caudill, releases lighthouse (demos), a raw collection of voice memos that document the earliest stages of her 2025 debut album, Lighthouse. Out now via Lauren Records, the release strips the songs back to their most vulnerable form.
Recorded as simple voice memos – some captured the very day they were written – lighthouse (demos) invites listeners into the private, unfiltered moments where these songs first took shape. The collection includes early versions of Lighthouse tracks alongside previously unreleased material that never made the final album.
After graduating college and entering a new phase of adulthood, Caudill found herself in a creative lull. Revisiting the original recordings from Lighthouse became an unexpected source of clarity – a reminder of where the songs began and why she writes in the first place.
Released in summer 2025, Lighthouse chronicled Caudill’s formative stretch of young adulthood, navigating back-to-back heartbreaks, self-discovery, and embracing her queer identity. The 11-track album served as a time capsule set against a backdrop of raw, hook-driven indie rock. Now, lighthouse (demos) traces that journey back to its origin.
“Olivia Barton is one of my favorite songwriters and she recently released a voice memo version of her album For Myself And For You,” said Caudill. “It made me break down in genuine sobs on my way to Katie’s (of Pacing) new house in San Jose. It was pitch black on Highway 17 and I heard Olivia’s voice crack as she cried through an early version of ‘Thin Again,’ and it reminded me of how important sharing this side of your art is. It reminded me why I care at all.”
“There are a few recordings featuring dear friends of mine, shoutout to them, they know who they are,” Caudill continued. “Writing is vulnerable and it’s a really special thing to feel comfortable enough to write with someone else in the room. A lot of these are from the day I wrote them, some are even from before the structure was sorted out yet.”
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