REVIEW: Caroline Polachek's "Desire, I Want to Turn into You" (Perpetual Novice)
New Yorker, former Chairlift member and recent superstar; Caroline Polachek has delivered her sophomore solo record. I personally don’t have a huge history with Polachek and before this record have never heard a whole project she’s been involved in to my knowledge. However after hearing the singles to this record I knew I had to finally dive in because they sounded fantastic to me on first listen.
What I enjoy so much about Polachek’s music is her ability to do so much with so little. Her lyricism especially is so minimalist and yet she manages to make these huge statements. Even in the opening track the entirety of the wording is her welcoming you to the setting of the record, painting you an image of it as crystal clear as the water surrounding, then making a declaration to the wind. Something else that really grabs me about the entire experience is that these songs are artful and yet manage to be so in an accessible way. A lot of art pop is masterfully done but has their numbers held back by taking risks that the average listener couldn’t really vibe with, however what’s done here is a pretty even split between grandiose visions and catchy pieces of pop. It also manages to be a pretty decent sized sampler plate of sound while still sounding like a whole experience. Also it goes without saying that she’s a strong vocalist but the way she enunciates and uses her voice beyond her voice in such an effective way.
The album also comes up with two songs that might become some of my favorites the whole year to come. The first being “Bunny is a Rider,” which I actually did hear when it was released as a single years ago. It didn’t stick with me then but in the context of the record it does in a big way between the whistling, the bass, the huge yet subtle chorus and again, managing to do so much with so little. I also love the various references to Wiz Khalifa, Alice and more. My only real complete was the introduced leitmotif from the track which is used in one other song then never again. My other highlight track is “Fly to You.” As a former massive Grimes stan (yes, stan, I had to divorce her for obvious reasons) it makes me happy to see she can still sing incredibly well and that her production styles fit so snugly into the collaboration, in fact some of the backing vocal tracks sound like they were leftover from her own music. It’s also really cool that Dido makes an appearance especially given her very clear influence on Polachek’s music as a whole, “Pretty in Possible” literally sounds like it could have come from Dido. The song is also just an overall treat with its paced percussion clashing with the light and somber guitar plucking.
Something, however, that I actually need to hold against this one is that some of these songs, themes and the total album sort of all overstay their welcome. Songs like “Pretty in Possible” and “Billions” sort of take advantage of the listeners willingness to sit through parts and ideas because of the minimalist strategy used on the rest of the record. That and while I could find merit in every single track it still, somehow, all feels a little bloated. All of that makes it so that, while I do love a lot of these songs, it may be held back for me personally when I look at this year as a whole.
New Yorker, former Chairlift member and recent superstar; Caroline Polachek has delivered her sophomore solo record. I personally don’t have a huge history with Polachek and before this record have never heard a whole project she’s been involved in to my knowledge. However after hearing the singles to this record I knew I had to finally dive in because they sounded fantastic to me on first listen.
What I enjoy so much about Polachek’s music is her ability to do so much with so little. Her lyricism especially is so minimalist and yet she manages to make these huge statements. Even in the opening track the entirety of the wording is her welcoming you to the setting of the record, painting you an image of it as crystal clear as the water surrounding, then making a declaration to the wind. Something else that really grabs me about the entire experience is that these songs are artful and yet manage to be so in an accessible way. A lot of art pop is masterfully done but has their numbers held back by taking risks that the average listener couldn’t really vibe with, however what’s done here is a pretty even split between grandiose visions and catchy pieces of pop. It also manages to be a pretty decent sized sampler plate of sound while still sounding like a whole experience. Also it goes without saying that she’s a strong vocalist but the way she enunciates and uses her voice beyond her voice in such an effective way.
The album also comes up with two songs that might become some of my favorites the whole year to come. The first being “Bunny is a Rider,” which I actually did hear when it was released as a single years ago. It didn’t stick with me then but in the context of the record it does in a big way between the whistling, the bass, the huge yet subtle chorus and again, managing to do so much with so little. I also love the various references to Wiz Khalifa, Alice and more. My only real complete was the introduced leitmotif from the track which is used in one other song then never again. My other highlight track is “Fly to You.” As a former massive Grimes stan (yes, stan, I had to divorce her for obvious reasons) it makes me happy to see she can still sing incredibly well and that her production styles fit so snugly into the collaboration, in fact some of the backing vocal tracks sound like they were leftover from her own music. It’s also really cool that Dido makes an appearance especially given her very clear influence on Polachek’s music as a whole, “Pretty in Possible” literally sounds like it could have come from Dido. The song is also just an overall treat with its paced percussion clashing with the light and somber guitar plucking.
Something, however, that I actually need to hold against this one is that some of these songs, themes and the total album sort of all overstay their welcome. Songs like “Pretty in Possible” and “Billions” sort of take advantage of the listeners willingness to sit through parts and ideas because of the minimalist strategy used on the rest of the record. That and while I could find merit in every single track it still, somehow, all feels a little bloated. All of that makes it so that, while I do love a lot of these songs, it may be held back for me personally when I look at this year as a whole.
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