ALBUM REVIEW: Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

    Caroline Polachek is somewhat new to music as a solo artist, at least to me. Polachek had previously found herself in new-wave group Chairlift for three albums and a little around fifteen years. From there, Polachek jumped right into a solo career with 2017's Drawing the Target Around the Arrow, although her second album Pang would be the first to bear her name in what was one of 2019's more acclaimed releases while also being a natural continuation of the art pop and synth pop of Chairlift. Four years after Pang, Polachek returns with the catchy and loose Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, which proves to be one of the first proper pop albums I've heard this year, and it's certainly a strong start. Polachek's tunefulness and musical variety keeps the momentum steady on her third solo album, which is also awash with dynamic production and performances from Polachek herself. It's a heavy-hitter as far as this year goes, and certainly one of the most immediately gratifying and catchy.

    By far one of the strongest elements of Desire, I Want to Turn Into You is the sheer eclecticism and variety of sounds that Caroline Polachek employs throughout the album. While there's an undeniable ethos of art pop at the heart of the album, Polachek incorporates many other musical genres to texture her songs. Of course, with her background in electronic music, the natural gravitation towards synth-pop and danceable rhythms only makes sense on songs like "Welcome to My Island" or "I Believe", and these serve as the primary background for her musical delivery, along with strong hints of ambient work (especially during the second half). You'll be pleased to hear the influence from plenty of other backgrounds, from the trip-hop of "Pretty in Possible" to the utilization of downtempo ideas to the flamenco leaning "Sunset", which is probably the most left-field moment on the album, even if its one that I'm not particularly crazy on. Nevertheless, Polachek's willingness to experiment throughout certainly gives plenty of weight to Desire, and inspires plenty of listening to find new qualities and timbres in the music.

    This is all on top of some largely stellar performances throughout the album, including some solid writing from Polachek herself. One of the few criticisms I've seen drawn towards this album is Polachek's reliance on autotune effects for some songs, but frankly this isn't an issue I ran into that much when listening myself - most of the time, Caroline's loose vocals are an excellent medium to deliver the album's sexual and hedonistic themes; "Desire" is in the album's title, after all. These raw themes of this opener bleed and stain through the rest of the album, be it the observation and disassociation of "Crude Drawing of an Angel" or the lust of "Butterfly Net". Not all moments are so filled with longing and horniness - "I Believe" is a tribute to her musician friend SOPHIE, who passed away in 2021, and the song fittingly discusses mortality and legacy in what is one of the album's most poignant and powerful moments. It all culminates in the truly excellent album closer "Billions", a grandiose and sensual final track that's just as lush and big a closing track as "Welcome to My Island" is an opener, while also book-ending the album with identical themes.

    With pop becoming as much of a numbers game as I feel it to be sometimes, it's albums like Desire, I Wan to Turn Into You that keep the landscape alive. Polachek's ode to hedonism and sexuality is not only brilliantly produced, but it's stylistically cohesive, musically diverse, and filled with excellent performances from Polachek through and through. It's certainly one of those grand statements that defines an artist in my eyes, even if some of the inconsistency does hold the record back at minor points. For her third ever solo album, it's a remarkable tour de force of style and substance.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Desire, I Want to Turn Into You.