Caroline Polachek’s new album, Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, is an astonishing blend of modern sophisti-pop and dance music, which explores the confusing, sometimes grotesque depths of love. After releasing the first single, “Bunny Is A Rider,” almost two years ago, Polachek took her time to release cerebral singles like “Billions” and “Sunset” before kicking off the album cycle with “Welcome To My Island,” a vibrant mix of disco, soft rock, and spoken word that ties all the loose ends of the previous singles together. The title track and the entire 12-song album delve into love and longing in all its gruesome depths.
The album traces the history of electronic music through the lens of its Black and Brown pioneers and blends ’90s music with electronic and acoustic genres, which give it a retro, authentic, and au courant feel. Polachek’s visceral love unfurls over the lushly prepared music by her and Danny L. Harle, with assists from Sega Bodega and A. G. Cook. The album also incorporates dance music subtly, which sounds incredible, with deep, massaging lows and brilliantly bright textures.
The album features an impressive array of instrumentation, from bubbly ’90s pop on “Pretty In Possible” to Jaco Pastorius-style fretless bass on the sparse “Crude Drawing Of An Angel” and flamenco pop on “Believe.” The album’s most naked, barely-there song, “Hopedrunk Everasking,” with a chilling refrain, is followed by the heartwarming sweep of “Smoke,” adding a lurid shade to the song. The album’s vision of love is meted out in words that sound as luxurious as their meanings and presented through a Carrollian multiverse of shapes, sounds, and ideas that become richer the longer one spends there.
In conclusion, Caroline Polachek’s Desire, I Want To Turn Into You is an exceptional album that rewards listeners with its unique blend of genres and its exploration of love and longing, making it a standout album in the contemporary music scene.
Tracklist
- Welcome To My Island
- Pretty In Possible
- Bunny Is A Rider
- Sunset
- Crude Drawing Of An Angel
- I Believe
- Fly To You feat. Grimes & Dido
- Blood And Butter
- Hopedrunk Everasking
- Butterfly Net
- Smoke
- Billions
