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. Allmusic.com
