Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

by Caroline Polachek

Overview

With 2023's Desire, I Want to Turn into You, Caroline Polachek conjures her own Europop fantasy island. Written and recorded with her longtime collaborator Danny L. Harle, Desire, I Want to Turn into You 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. Polachek is no stranger to cool indie stances having spent the early part of her career as one half of the electro duo Chairlift, a band who often played with their image and left fans to guess if their intentions were more art or pop. She carried this approach into her solo work with 2014's Arcadia (recorded under the alter ego Ramona Lisa) and 2019's Pang, both of which showcased her baroque, synth-based style. While none of the influences on Desire feel completely ironic and all of the emotions feel earned, there is a sense of humor at play. It's a wry artifice that Polachek commands throughout, whether it's her spoken word rap on "Welcome to My Island" or the way she dances through the glass-mirror harmonies of "Billions" like Enya feeling herself after a difficult divorce. She even joins forces with guests Grimes and Dido on "Fly to You," an anthemic pastel snow cone of early-2000s new age techno that presents the singers as a kind of Three Muses of electro-pop. There's also the sultry flamenco intensity of "Sunset" and clubby R&B of "Bunny Is a Rider." Adding emotional weight to Polachek's luminous pop is the sense that she's working through some tough experiences. Desire was recorded in the wake of her father's death from COVID-19 in 2020, a person with whom she purportedly had a difficult relationship. His spirit hangs Prospero-like over the album, especially on the opening "Welcome to My Island" where Polachek sings, "I am my father's daughter in the end/He says watch your ego, watch your head girl/You're so smart so talented/But now the water's turning red/And it's all your fault and it's all your mess." With Desire, I Want to Turn into You, Polachek breaks free from outside expectations and transforms her inner anxieties into an intoxicating pop euphoria. ~ Matt Collar

Product Details

Release Date:	11/03/2023
Label:	Caroline Polachek / Perpetual Novice
UPC:	0197187546381

Tracks

1. Welcome to My Island
2. Pretty in Possible
3. Bunny Is a Rider
4. Sunset
5. Crude Drawing of an Angel
6. I Believe
7. Fly to You
8. Blood and Butter
9. Hopedrunk Everasking
10. Butterfly Net
11. Smoke
12. Billions

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Caroline Polachek   Primary Artist,Guitar,Lead Vocals
Dido   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Grimes   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Matthew Horton   Guitar
Daniel Nigro   Guitar
Danny L Harle   Bass
Brighde Chaimbeul   Bagpipes
Trinity Choir   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Samuel Organ   Guitar
Marc Lopez Fernandez   Guitar
Miquel Mestres   Guitar
Nico Harle   Vocals
Marco Lopez   Guitar
Kirin J. Callinan   Guitar

Technical Credits

Ariel Rechtshaid   Composer,Producer
Dido Armstrong   Composer
Daniel Nigro   Composer,Producer
Grimes   Composer,Producer
Caroline Polachek   Composer,Producer,Executive Producer
Geoff Swan   Mixing
Cameron Gower-Poole   Producer,Vocal Producer
Caroline Ailin   Composer
A.G. Cook   Additional Production
Danny L Harle   Composer,Producer,Executive Producer
Salvador Navarrete   Composer
Macks Faulkron   Engineer
Aidan Zamiri   Photography
Samuel Organ   Producer
Yuma Burgess   Illustrations
David Uzquiza   Art Direction
James Harmon Stack   Composer
Chris Gehringer   Mastering
Dido   Composer
Claire Boucher   Composer
Sega Bodega   Composer,Producer
Jim-E Stack   Composer,Producer