Caroline Polacheck’s Desire, I Want To Turn Into You: An Exciting Projection for Pop

Written by Zoe Tevyaw, Photography by Nedda Afsari

Caroline Polacheck’s sophomore solo album Desire, I Want To Turn Into You released this past February 14th and has shaken up the pop music world as she welcomes us to her island, making waves along the way. 

With an eclectic resume being part of Chairlift and having writing credits on Beyonce and Travis Scott tracks, Polachek has steadily narrowed into her solo career with 2019’s Pang and has come prepared to fully unleash her creative potential in Desire, I Want To Turn Into You. The new album has garnered high praise from critics, including an impressive 8.7 from Pitchfork in a review declaring her an “emotional philosopher” and Desire itself “virtuosic.”

Central to the album is Caroline’s vocal prowess. She gives listeners everything from leaping soprano gymnastics to rap verses in the 12 tracks, leaving even a single-note melody to feel intentional and meaningful in the scope of the project. Opening track “Welcome To My Island” begins with a captivating a capella vamp that provides the necessary contrast to the following rhythmic verses and rap bridge that invites deeper listening: if she can sing like that, why would she ever not? In “Welcome To My Island” specifically, Polachek has stated that she needed to portray “the mania that comes with desire and striving… I needed to look desperate and pathetic,” a key recurring theme expertly introduced in the song’s music video which feels like visually spiraling out of control.

This mania underlies the entire project, veering into areas of self-obsession and pretentiousness as the songs graze through face-value, formulaic pop subject matters. However, with Polachek’s voice and character, Desire is brought out from the pop music machine and into what hides beneath each track: maximalist commentary of the form as it is and as it might become. Playing with absurdity, she fluidly weaves the ridiculousness of pervasive pop ideas through her glossy stacks of harmony and intricate layers. There is a certain irony as she punches up at mainstream modern music by blowing its practices out of proportion in displays of its furthest reaches that can have audiences wondering if they’re missing something, or if the personality of Desire is all an elaborate ruse.

Though it is pop’s tried and true ringer, love is an important part of Desire that surpasses the satire and gets to the human heart and center of the record. Even in the title, she expresses the overwhelming needs love can push towards, wanting to “turn into” another. The all-encompassing nature of which she sings adds that desperate, unsteady edge to the otherwise generic subject. In an interview with The Guardian, Polachek describes this as “part of the illusion of falling in love – feeling as if you could live off that like air or water” explaining that the Desire tracks try to encapsulate “the most manic point of falling in love.” Yet at the album’s close, there still remains a measure of dissatisfaction. Final track “Billions” ends only with “I’ve never felt so close to you,” and falls short of the desire to “turn into you” expressed right from the start despite the epic journey undergone by both Polachek and her audience throughout the 12 songs. There will always be more to yearn for in love, she seems to say.

The list of genres and influences strung throughout Desire is extensive. Songs like “Sunset” and “Fly To You” play heavily on what could be considered their home genres of flamenco and hyperpop, respectively – and who would have imagined seeing those on the same project to such a degree? For casual listeners, the twists and turns of “Sunset” may be a turn off in one of the record’s most maximalist tracks. It would be hard to say, however, that Polachek hasn’t built an environment and atmosphere with incredible clarity through the song’s soundscape. “Fly To You” is her first solo track to feature other artists. The addition of Grimes and Dido to the acoustic and yet so electric song gives even more dimension to the project. Manipulating both the most out-of-the-box practices and subtle manifestations of what pop music has been and is, Polachek holds up a mirror to the genre and subsequently shatters it to show listeners what the future could hold in its most promising and most terrifying.

The album’s final track “Billions” perfectly exemplifies these themes with its sonically left-field composition that took 19 months to complete, according to Polachek. The song, complete with trip-hop elements and a children’s choir, brings a final self-reflection to a project defined by self absorption and overabundance. “Billions” completely disregards the industry rule of relatability and the draw of the generic in favor of an exciting alternative: the exact opposite. Polacheck in Desire has contended that conveying the most narrowed-in, hyper-specific feelings can reach just as many hearts and minds. In this declaration of what pop could become, Polacheck holds the confidence of a time traveler buying lottery tickets – there’s no choice but to take her word for it.

Polacheck will be heading out on a U.S. headlining tour this April and joining the international festival circuit this summer. Desire, I Want To Turn Into You is available for listening on all streaming platforms now, and available for purchase on the Tower Records website.

Further critical praise for Desire, I Want To Turn Into You:

“Here are some of the moods and states of being expressed on Desire: campy, freaky, slutty, dissociated, heady, dangerous, ephemeral.” - NPR

“To call Polachek an “experimental” artist in the realm of pop would be like calling the Mona Lisa “good” in the realm of classical painting.” - NME

“Like an alien take on Celine Dion” - The Guardian