TRACK REVIEW: Caroline Polachek - Insomnia

TRACK REVIEW:

Caroline Polachek

Insomnia

9.6/10

The track, Insomnia, is available via:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAIwDK3uj_4

GENRES:

Art-Pop/Indie-Pop

ORIGIN:

New York, U.S.A.

PRODUCERS:

Caroline Polachek/Daniel Eisner Harle

The album, PANG, is available here:

https://open.spotify.com/album/4ClyeVlAKJJViIyfVW0yQD?si=J48CgjDbRBGj63-_U7reFA

LABEL:

Perpetual Novice

__________

THIS time around…

PHOTO CREDIT: Into the Gloss

I am focusing on an artist who is bringing her unique and powerful gifts to music; one of the most exciting and laudable artists of the moment. I am going to discuss Caroline Polachek and a song from her new album in a bit but, before I get there, I want to have a look at a few different aspects relevant to her. I want to look at artists like Polachek who move from bands and embark on solo careers; how that can be a transition and allow some sense of freedom. I will also talk about female artists and how, when they get to a certain age, there are certain judgements or they are seen as past it; I want to look at Polachek’s vocals and raw talent in addition to her move to L.A. and how that gave her a new lease and perspective. I think PANG (or ‘Pang’) will be judged as one of the best albums of 2019 because the songs are so powerful and instant. You can listen to the album the whole way through – which I urge people to do – and you instantly connect with the tracks. Maybe it is the production or the quality of the songwriting. Whatever it is, you cannot avoid the sheer quality and effectiveness of PANG. I do believe Polachek has a very strong voice and delivery that means every song has this very engaging and individual quality. Before I talk about her vocal style, I want to look at her work with Chairlift. From 2008, the band released three albums and enjoyed a successful career. Consisting Caroline Polachek, Patrick Wimberly and Aaron Pfenning, the Colorado-formed band split in 2016 and, with it, Polachek was looking at life outside of a band. Whilst there are shades of Chairlift on PANG, Polachek has created her own sound and world. If you look at the success of Chairlift, that would have created a great pressure for Polachek.

PHOTO CREDIT: Bibi Borthwick

When speaking with DIY a few days back, we learn about the rise of Chairlift and how their sound changed by the second album:

“In 2008, Caroline was in the final year of her degree at New York University, simultaneously working four low-paying, arts-adjacent jobs. At night, she would write and record for Chairlift, the independently-minded synthpop project she’d started with Aaron Pfenning a few years earlier, along with Patrick Wimberly, who joined the group in early 2007. However, that year, their song ‘Bruises’ launched them into the spotlight when it was featured in a ubiquitous iPod Nano commercial, quickly turning them into the poster children for US indie in the late ‘00s. But notoriety wasn’t necessarily something the group wanted for themselves.

Suddenly, Caroline and her collaborators found themselves at the centre of an “international indie pop circuit” that, while exciting at the time, wasn’t quite how they wanted to form their identity. “It was only once Chairlift went back to the studio for a second album that we actually got some perspective on how we’d been swept up into this whole new, branded, ‘Urban Outfitters’ existence,” reflects Caroline. “We were really pushing back against that with our second album, which a lot of fans weren’t into, and which our label certainly wasn’t into. But I think that’s when we actually found ourselves as musicians”.

It must have been a bit unsettling and strange finding all of this success and fame coming their way. I guess, when a band gets into a position of popularity and attention, there are these changes and expectations. Although Chairlift did enjoy a good run and there were some happy times, one suspects that Polachek has more of a voice and sense of freedom on her own. One of the other problems that one can find when they move from a band to their solo work is that strange adaption and isolation. You have spent all of this time with people you grew close to and, now, you are facing the world on your own.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sony

Not only do you not have that same routine and work life; you also have to decide what the next moves are and what your sound is going to be when you embark on solo life. For Polachek, she found herself in a position where she had to consider all of this and decide where she would head next. In this interview with The Guardian from earlier in the month, Polachek talked about the band’s split and how she coped:

“After Chairlift split, Polachek felt her life lacked structure. “I figured I would just try a bit of everything,” she says over lunch in Paris last month. She’s here for fashion week and her outfit suggests someone at home there: a leather vest over a blousy white shirt that makes Polachek, with her striking, almond-shaped face and wide eyes, look like a modish Joan of Arc, whereas I would look like an employee at a medieval-themed restaurant. In summer 2017, she was in LA to write songs with Harle, the idea being to pitch them to Katy Perry. A magic-mushroom trip made her second-guess her plans. “I remember thinking: what I do with my time right now is really going to determine what happens next,” she recalls in her cut-glass accent. “I shouldn’t be wasting my time on things that I don’t care passionately about.”

When she called Harle to cancel, he suggested they write for her instead. Polachek had been making a “warmer, auburn, folk-tinged, peaceful” album titled Calico that she didn’t see working with the hard, shiny, electronic sound Harle was known for. Still, she agreed. Perhaps inevitably, they came up with something that overshadowed Calico and kickstarted a fruitful collaboration. Their first song, Parachute, “is about a total loss of control,” says Polachek. “And it’s not giving that control up to another person, it’s giving it up to life – and that’s the scariest thing”.

Her life did change, but I feel her solo album retains some of Chairlift’s spirit but (the songs) are a representation of Polachek and her life rather than what a label expects or the combination of the band members’ voices. Now that Polachek has moved from a band to solo work, let’s hope she is on surer footing and is looking to the future.

I will move on to a song I have been keen to cover, but I wanted to consider Polachek and women in music. It is safe to say that, when a woman reaches thirty-five or forty, they are seen in a different light. In terms of radio-play and how stations view their work, I do think there are restrictions and boundaries. Even if that artists has crafted a sublime career, stations can put them on the pile when they reach a certain age. Music is and has never been reserved to the young. I think many get this impression that the most relevant and worthy artists are in their twenties and, when you get past that point, you are only good for certain stations and do not hold much sway. One needs only look around and realise that there are so many fantastic female artists in their mid-thirties and forties who are producing some truly exceptional work. Everyone from Madonna and Kylie Minogue has had to face restrictions and ageist views from the music industry. Also, I think women are talked about in terms of their looks and appearance when they are younger; maybe, when they are in their forties, there is less emphasis and the focus shifts. It is an odd think, and I feel we need to keep striking against ageism and the perception that women are useless, less cool or important when they get to their thirties and forties – we do not apply the same standards to men. I want to return to that interview from The Guardian, where Polachek talked about the subject of age and how women are perceived:

“Polachek has found transitioning into a solo career easier than expected, it bringing new fans who hadn’t followed Chairlift. “I felt the perception of what I was doing as ‘indie’ was going to travel with me, but it hasn’t at all, which is really exciting,” she says. Aged 34 and with 12 years in a band behind her, she had worried about being a late starter, a notion she made herself reject. “I’m just beginning,” she says. “I think women are taught in the music industry that once you’re 35, you’ve expired, and I’m here to prove that factually incorrect.”

The week we meet, Polachek tweets that her new album had marked the first time that journalists asked about her vision, not her appearance. “There’s just so much more public female intellect on display now than there ever has been,” she says when I ask why that might be. “Young people have realised that an artist is in charge of what they’re doing – this crazy cynicism that artists were puppets has disappeared. They have [music production software] Ableton Live and know how hard it is to write a song”.

It is good that there are people out there focusing on women’s intelligence and minds rather than their looks. I am seeing a lot of young female artists discussed in terms of what they look like and not what is coming out of their mouths. It is upsetting to see, yet it has been happening for decades. I think attitudes are starting to change and artists like Polachek will definitely help change attitudes. I know she would have received a lot of comments about her looks when she was in Chairlift; questions about her private life; maybe written off in terms of her role in the band and whether she was important. With awareness being raised and artists speaking on social media, we can no longer tolerate sexist attitudes and exclusion. I hope radio stations start changing their attitudes when it comes age and imposing a cut-off regarding their playlists. It is such a shame women are seen as expendable and less when they are in their thirties and forties. This year has been dominated by female artists, and I know that will continue into 2020. The industry needs to react and ensure that festivals are more gender-balanced; radio stations start ensuring their schedules have more women in the mix and other areas strength.

PHOTO CREDIT: Into the Gloss

There was a lot of shift and clarity when Chairlift split up. Life was not going to be the same for Caroline Polachek. Although a lot of time has passed since the end of the band and this solo record, Polachek has been dealing with a lot of change and uncertainty. PANG is a very personal album; it is one that sort of reflects on her experiences and changes over the past few years. When speaking with DIY, Polachek discussed what was happening in her life when writing PANG:

“There was a lot going on in my life while I was writing this album. I was feeling a lot of big change, and a lot of self-doubt, a lot of self-questioning. To write about anything else would have seemed crazy,” she says. In the past, Caroline has spoken about her determination to specifically avoid making music about love and romance, citing the bloated size of the canon as the logic behind her reasoning. But ‘Pang’ demonstrates a significant departure from this ideology. “As I’ve gotten older and more sentimental, I’ve started listening to love songs very differently: not necessarily as songs about a person or a relationship, but as songs that are essentially devotional or spiritual, [ones] about your relationship with life and existing”.

It is interesting how Polachek has changed as a songwriter since the band days. Maybe traditional love songs and areas of relationships do not appeal and Polachek is looking at life from a new angle. Again, I think there is a lot of pressure on artists to write songs that are commercial and familiar. Pop has not really moved on regarding the mainstream and writing about love. I look at music now and so much of it is filled with the same kind of songs. I can understand artists wanting to write something relatable and familiar, but it can be a bit same. Polachek might be facing relationship struggles or new love, yet she is writing about love from a more spiritual and intellectual space. As such, her music is less overwrought and hurt as many artists.

PHOTO CREDIT: Karsten Moran for The New York Times

For sure, there are pains expressed in PANG; there is also a lot of wisdom expounded and optimistic spirit. Whilst Polachek’s feelings of self-loathing and uncertainty are uncovered on PANG…that is not to say the album is a very heavy and emotional listen. I mentioned how there is optimism and spirituality and, as you listen, you get this mix of emotions and feelings. PANG is a wonderful album and one that will resonate with many people. I do wonder, having written the album, Polachek has felt lighter and moved on. I feel music is very cathartic and beneficial when it comes to exposing wounds or harder times. Polachek has experienced change and doubts over the past few years. She just had to put them in the music and, in doing so, one feels there has been some revelation and answers. It would be strange if the whole experience was for nothing. Instead, PANG seems like an album where Polachek is moving forward and making sense of stuff going on in her life. One cannot listen to the album without being moved and empathising. When one considers Caroline Polachek and what her greatest strengths are, you sort of consider her lyrics and vocals. Her songwriting is very personal, yet her songs are not restricted to herself. What you find is an album brimming with lines and lyrics we can all appreciate and understand. Her writing is incredibly honest and intelligent; the way she employs language and delivers her material is incredible. I do particularly love her voice and how, unlike so many other artists, there is incredible range and depth. There are some really great female artists of the moment – like Anna Calvi – who can take their voice in all directions and convey so many different emotions. Before moving on, I want to bring in an article concerning PANG’s first single, Door, and why it was chosen; how her incredible voice stuns and moves the senses:

“The testament to the strength of Polachek’s creative vision is that Harle’s noted instincts for heavily processed vocals and crunchy synths never overwhelm the star of the show: Polachek’s classically trained voice, which can move from guttural growls to the rippling purity of birdsong within the space of a single track.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sony

“When we finished our first session together, it felt new because it was so minimal instrumentally, but so extreme vocally,” she says, “I knew straight away I wanted to follow the thread of a magical, almost folkloric tone. I really did push myself to kind of do the most expressionistic singing I’ve ever done.”

And where Chairlift’s final two albums viewed love through a prism of misty-eyed wonderment, Polachek’s solo venture is bracingly candid. Across the album, she plumbs the depths of heartbreak and romantic frustration—and, on the penultimate track, “Door,” undergoes a kind of emotional rebirth—to address her personal life in heart-rending, honest terms. Why, then, did she choose to lead with “Door,” one of the record’s more enigmatic, slow-burning moments? “I was actually really stunned that my label suggested ‘Door’ as the single to lead with, as it’s such a long and winding song,” she adds. “But the more I sat with it, the more I felt that, yeah, this is a really good introduction. There are songs on the record that are a bit more twisty and moody. And this one feels like, no pun intended, an open door. It feels like an invitation”.

PANG is a very emotive album but one where there is plenty of beauty and variation. I have listened a few times and, the more I investigate, the more I discover. After Chairlift ended, there must have been this hollowness and fear inside Polachek. How was she going to carry on and would she record music on her own? When was the right time to embark on a solo career? I do think her solo album is a real triumph and the start of a long career. She is an artist who has so much more to give and I cannot wait to see where she heads next and what the next album sounds like. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, I have been listening to PANG and have selected Insomnia for review – my favourite song from the album.

I chose Insomnia for review because it is one of the most beautiful songs Polachek has ever performed. In terms of composition, it is quite minimal. There is reliance on a sense of mood and atmosphere rather than needlessly heavy beats, strings or intrusions. With a subtle backdrop that is perfectly fitting, Polachek is at the front; her voice at its most engaging, haunting and powerful. If you want an example of how Polachek’s voice can go in different directions and has this physicality, Insomnia is a great example of her talents. She asks the following: “How long can sunlight stay warm in the storm? How long ‘til the bath runs cold?”. Whilst it is hard to get an instant truth and clear vision, those words really intrigue me. I get the sense that there is turmoil in her life; confusion and changing time that is causing restlessness and sleepiness. Her optimism and better nature are being threatened by the changing tide and events around her. The warm glow and bath is growing colder and one wonders what has started this thought. Maybe there is this rocky relationship or just Polachek facing a very tough time. Polachek calls for the dawn and light to come; she is looking for blue and grey skies; she wants the waves that break to come to her. It seems like she is caught in the limbo of fatigue and a strange state where she cannot see much light or relief. Insomnia is a wonderfully beautiful song where Polachek lets her voice swim, glide and move. It is almost like she is walking through the darkness, in search of a safe place to rest. She needs relief and settlement, yet it seems like she cannot work things out and know where to go next. You need to listen to the song a few times, because it is one of these incredibly moving and stunning songs that unwinds and unfurls slowly. There are echoing electronics in the background; the main focus is the vocal, which is almost operatic in its projection.

Rather than rush things or have her voice processed, Polachek allows the words to stretch. It is incredible hearing a singer take this approach, because I associate so much of today’s music with processed vocals and fast Pop songs. It is rare, regardless of genre, to find a song that moves so gradually and beautifully. Because of that, one can project images and watch scenes in their head. Polachek sings about fields that were once green, burned by someone like her. With these very rich and vivid images being evoked, you cannot help but be affected and brought into the song. Polachek is a fantastic writer and voice. Written and produced with Daniel Eisner Harle, Insomnia is a song that, ironically, creates a dreaminess and sense of calm that can relax. That said, the sheer weight of the vocal and the power of the lyrics provokes you to listen and pay close attention. I have heard the song a few times and wonder whether Polachek is referring to a period of her life where she is finding her footing and trying to find some optimism. Perhaps the fears are irrational, or maybe she is trying to make sense of disruption. The truth is with Polachek, and every listener will have their own views and thoughts regarding the song. PANG is overflowing with brilliant songs and moments that sort of take the breath. I was drawn to Insomnia because it hit me hardest and left the biggest impression.

PHOTO CREDIT: Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images

Caroline Polachek is playing some dates in the U.S., but she will be in London on 30th October, so make sure you go and see her if you can. Her live shows are terrific and it will be interesting to see how PANG translates to the stage. Since the split of Chairlift, Polachek has made some changes. I think having her voice and writing in the spotlight is a great thing. I am not saying being in a band is a bad thing, but Polachek is allowed more freedom and expression as a solo artist. There is not the same expectation and pressure; she is almost starting anew but, as we know, she will always carry the band with her – it was such an important part of her life. I will end this in a second, but I want to bring in that interview from DIY where Polachek was discussing PANG and how she has relocated. Not only is PANG personal, it seems, but there are political considerations; she has also been adjusting to a start in Los Angeles:

“We have this idea that we’re all individuals in charge of our fate, and the responsibility of ‘living the American Dream’ is on us,” she begins. “And I think the version of feminism that women are being sold right now in pop culture is that being a good feminist is an extroverted act in terms of loudly defending yourself and pushing against things. The idea of giving into something that you’re not in control of is identified with the old model of femininity, or the model of femininity where you’re controlled by men.

PHOTO CREDIT: Nedda Afsari

But this record isn’t about giving in to a man per se, or any sort of system. It’s about giving in to a part of yourself that you’re not consciously in control of, and taking instructions from your intuition.”

There’s that intuition again. Currently, Caroline is settling into her new LA life, following that gut feeling across the country, if only for a couple of years. Where she’ll artistically head next, who knows, but chances are it’ll be led by that same inner intrinsic impulse. “I want to try my hand at scoring. I want to try my hand at acting. I guess being in LA is conducive to those kind of things,” she says. “It’s a good place for making things right now, but who knows [about the future]. Life is long”.

I shall end things there because, as you can appreciate, a lot of words have been laid out. I hope I have got to the bottom of Polachek and her incredible music. If you are not familiar with the work of Chairlift, it is worth looking back at their albums and seeing where she came from. PANG is a new chapter for Polachek, and I hope we see a lot more material from her. There are certain artists who grip you and stay in the head as soon as you hear them – Polachek is definitely one of the elite. Make sure you stream/buy her solo album and see what I mean. PANG is fresh in the world, but it is an album you instantly bond with. In my opinion, PANG is one of the…