"... finds Polachek unapologetically embracing her inner pop diva, purposefully referencing a '90s and early-2000s pop aesthetic. This is an album of balmy trip-hop grooves, where electric bass riffs, finger-snap beats, and sky-blue synths caress her angelically swooping vocals like dolphins chasing a boat. It's an immediately evocative vibe that she commits to, deftly walking a fine line between earnest romanticism and artful irony."
Arguably the album of last year, Caroline Polachek's Desire, I Want To Turn Into You is more than an album to these ears at Waxx Lyrical; it's a transformative pop experience from start to finish. Pop auteur, emotional philosopher and hopeless romantic, 2023 was undoubtedly her year. This persuasive force and virtuosic album dropped on Valentine's Day and instantly solidified her place as one of the most remarkable and diverse musicians after 15 years of making sophisticated pop music, first as a part of NYC indie outfit, Chairlift, and then as a solo artist. She is a marvel, transcending genre and time, owning and incorporating so many influences; it shouldn't work, but it does. An older soul with a playful outlook, she describes her own sound as art pop, alternative pop, and new age, but any pair of decent ears will tell you it incorporates elements of electronic, rock, rave, and trip-hop. As Richard Kingsmill wrote before his departure, naming it Double J's album of the year: "there are small touches of Harle's hyper PC past, but also echoes of Madonna's work with William Orbit ('Blood and Butter'), trip-hop ('Pretty In Possible'), breakbeat ('Smoke'), Kate Bush ('Billions'), and even straight up flamenco ('Sunset')." But what sets her apart from the pop pack - commercial, alternative, or otherwise - is her voice, a remarkable instrument unto itself; it's one of the most incredible, unflinching of our time. Desire... is an album to be reckoned with, as is Polachek overall as a talent sonically, visually, and spiritually. It's safe to say that this is Polachek's island; we're just living on it.
Released :
14 February 2023
Label :
Perpetual Novice
Producer :
Caroline Polachek / Danny L Harle
LP :
PNR05 (Limited Metallic Copper Coloured Copper Vinyl)
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Singles :
"Bunny Is a Rider" (July 14, 2021)
"Billions" (February 9, 2022)
"Sunset" (October 17, 2022)
"Welcome to My Island" (December 5, 2022)
"Blood and Butter" (January 31, 2023)
"Smoke" (April 6, 2023)
Preview :
< Click to preview album on YouTube >
Tracks :
Welcome To My Island Pretty In Possible
Bunny Is A Rider
Sunset
Crude Drawing Of An Angel
Blood And Butter
I Believe
Fly To You (feat. Grimes and Dido)
Hopedrunk Everasking
Butterfly Net
Smoke
Billions
The Journey :
As rabid fans of Polachek since hearing Chairlift's 'Bruises' in an advertisement for the iPod Nano in 2008, we wanted to nominate this an ROTM from as early as February last year. The album dropped on streaming services on Valentine's Day, but the vinyl release date was delayed numerous times. We then wanted to feature it in December as our Album Of The Year, but copies were scarce and so we've finally collected enough to get one to each for each club member, and still it is over half the copies available in Australia.