Peripheral Vision by Caution

Life is short and nothing matters. Everything is falling apart, all of the time. Is there anything to hold on to? This persistent mystery forms the foundation of loud-pop duo Caution’s new album, ‘Peripheral Vision.’ Over 12 tracks of heavy riffage, shattering rhythm, and cosmic harmony, the pair explores this confusing existence we’re all tasked with enduring.

There might be something to live for, though. Propelled by their sparkling friendship and a titanium creative bond, Caution’s Cash Langdon and Nora Button combine their musical strengths to develop another album-length world of lost and found. They pack it all into sublime rock ’n’ roll that mixes the pleasure of distortion, the surreality of aural maximalism, the beauty of melody, and the grace of poetry.

Each song on ‘Peripheral Vision’ offers further insight into the waking drama of living. Maybe there is no answer, but we can shine a spotlight on that void. “People always need some fodder/ to hold on to the thrill of it all,” the band’s twin voices sing on “Patri Blues.” “Really makes you sit and think and wonder/about the ones who fly with nowhere to fall.” Is there a landing pad for any of us?

Caution’s last record, the head-turning ‘Arcola’ (2022) was followed by a crashing single (“To Decide,” 2022) and an electric cover of Elastica’s cooler-than-cool “Connection” (2024). Since ‘Arcola,’ the Birmingham-based Langdon toured the North American continent with his solo rock outfit while Minneapolis-based Button honed her band Despondent. The duo first met in 2015 while both living in Washington, D.C. They began their creative relationship in that city, as half of the ecstatic pop group Saturday Night. Later, Langdon and Button’s creative synergy was further unlocked through the remote song-building process they adapted to as a long-distance songwriting team. As with previous Caution releases, the songwriting is evenly split across ‘Peripheral Vision.’ Each track finds the pair tinkering with each other’s musical ideas. Their alliance shines especially bright when they unite their divine voices, a beautiful talent they’ve been perfecting for nearly a decade.

You can hear that gorgeous pairing all over ‘Peripheral Vision,’ including on “Pleasure Addict” when Langdon and Button sing together: “It’s just a mix of gleaming moments/the bar gets lower each and every time/ but when you let the feeling take you over/ all can be done is hang your head and cry.” The music is half industrial party-starter, half dreamy swirl. “The song is about dealing with your addictions while having empathy and humanity for yourself,” Langdon says. “The things that make me feel alive, I really hold on to. And if that’s getting fucked up, okay.”

The album’s title is pulled from a lyric on “Dancing,” but as it’s described in the song, “peripheral vision” is not a good thing. “Dancing” is about being overshadowed by something else, or “parts of myself,” Button says. “Not feeling confident in myself or wanting to be fully seen by people.” She sings: “You treat me like peripheral vision/I think you see me/yeah you see me from the side that is missing.” Inspired by a bad relationship, the song’s form has changed a lot over the years. “It feels like cathartic redemption to have this version made,” Button says.

A lot of the songs’ dynamics sprout from the heavy use of MIDI synth and totally machine-powered percussion. But the music’s heart is all human, based on the intimacy between the two songwriters. “Connection is important to me,” Button says. “There’s really no one else I would send my demos to. I don’t feel hesitation in that. Our collaboration feels natural and comes together in a way that makes sense.”

“Nora and I are like siblings,” Langdon says. “We’re so comfortable with each other. Once we’re in the mode of creating, it’s the best feeling.”

And writing music is inevitable. “I have a compulsion to not stop making things,” Langdon says. “It feels like an itch that can never be scratched.” Both Langdon and Button attest to some songs appearing out of thin air—“blacking out” and coming to with a song. “There is nothing more satisfying to me than writing something,” Button says. “When you have a good day of writing, I feel high from that.”

“Music is the thing that makes me feel the most alive,” says Langdon, who has been playing music since age 7. “If I don’t do these things, what is it that I do?”

Being in touch with the ideas inside our head, we reach for something intangible, to make sense of our crumbling reality. And how beautiful: when you’re working from nothing, you can make anything.

- Reese Higgins