Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

Sometimes I think about the state music has fallen into since 2020. Now, is it from COVID, the emergence of some current topics that artists are milking until exhaustion, to the shift of trends, to all of the above plus SOMETHING else, or do I have my own foot up my ass so far up that I can't appreciate art (or is it simply that my ideals and my goals are different from the goals of the first world)? Anyway, I digress. Caroline Polachek's sophomore album is one of those albums that intrigued me the most for the reason that Caroline is not subject to the industry and that she makes albums like her life depends on it, but that she treats albums as a process that lasts more than a year, and not as a cash grab and as an industrial loading of the environment and fans of dopamine to the extent that it creates dopamine addiction in people. Only that there is one problem, but I think that problem is more of a "consumer" problem than a "musician" problem, and that problem is: what if the album, which has been in the works for two years or more, sounds as if it could have been prepared in a couple of months?

That brings us to Desire, I Want to Turn Into You. An album that, for one reason or another, did not need to be awaited for several years.
There is something there, actually. I can't say that the album is objectively bad, but my subjective feelings dictate that the album doesn't have a factor pulling it to the promised land. Caroline has incredible vocal abilities, and the melodious instrumentals are excellent on a couple of occasions, but I can't ignore the fact that she doesn't use these abilities properly and in a good way, or better said, in a way that suits me. The songs could have incredible staying power, but when 1/3 of the song is an ambient, breakbeat collage, 1/3 mindless harmonizing, and 1/3 is actually what I like to some extent, the album loses its meaning and loses its direction. I can see through the lyrics to an extent, so I can say that they don't make my stomach turn like other parts of the album. For the above reasons, "Hopedrunk Everlasting", "Butterfly Net", and to some extent "Blood and Butter", are songs that, like pillars, keep the album from collapsing under the weight of its problems. Now, is it because I like that psychedelic feel, the organ solo that reminds me of some works by Pink Floyd, or actually because of the vocal abilities that are properly used, I don't know, but I know that those songs are good. The rest of the album is less of a mistake, more of the „taking the album in a direction that I don't find appealing“, that's all.

This is an album I really wish I liked more than I actually do, the highs are nothing short of spectacular but to my taste there is only three of them on the entire album (Welcome to My Island, Bunny is a Rider, and Billions) and the rest I find to be rather boring.

The album opens in a perfect way with Welcome to My Island. It's playful yet mysterious, and it encourages you to engage with the album. I think this song takes the place of an overture from rock operas, it foreshadows many themes will be expressed throughout the album. She deliberately sets a tone of a tropical island to jam that thought into your head while listening to the album (see the sand on the cover), and she completely succeeded. While talking about this album I actually referred to it as an "island" at several points, that's how well she sets the stage. This is definitely the most fun song, it's borderline dance pop, but later songs will reveal an artsier side.

So now we're on Polachek 's island, what does it contain? Well primarily this is a pop album with a lot of British 90s electronic influence (trip hop, downtempo, garage, baggy, just to name a few) which jumps around from song to song. The lush tropical theme from the opener stays through pretty much the whole album, it sticks to it very well.

There's a few things I don't like. I feel the auto tune used throughout the album is tacky for the most part, and Sunset just feels like it was hopping on the Latin trend that was budding in 2023 (though it is one of her most popular songs so maybe that's a me problem). The dislikes heavily outweigh the likes so this album is just fortunate that the strengths pull it up.

The real gem of the album is the closer, Billions, which is one of my favourite pop songs ever. This Bjork-esque downtempo song uses the most lush instrumentation on the album which climaxes into a children's choir. The end of the song is so transcendental.

Should it be on the main list: Yeah probably, you could make a strong case for it. Polachek is regarded as one of the finest pop songwriters of the 21st century, a quality that Dimery holds in high regard according to his book.

Top 3 songs: Welcome To My Island, Bunny is a Rider, Billions

I've listened to this before, when it came out. I like it, particularly the smallpipes on Blood and Butter

3.5

Mostly tepid pop. Was going to let it get away with 3 stars until “Hopedrunk Evercasking” started playing smoke detector chirps into my ear

Sort of like Taylor Swift vomiting in the corner at a party.

I'm glad Olaf from Frozen could make a cameo on this album in the literal first seconds of the first song.....

Kids who haven't been alive long enough to know what music is shouldn't be allowed to recommend albums. Also, something that was nominated for Best Engineered Album at the 2023 Grammy's should be automatically deleted from any list of albums, unless it is a list of albums that mark mankind's downfall. At what point does music stop being music and start being the brain droppings of computer AI software? Caroline Polachek contributed literally nothing to this album except some lyrics which were then auto tuned to holy hell and laid over regurgitated computer pop noises. This is truly awful, and makes me sad for humanity.

If you are someone who considers this music, I truly feel sorry for you. This is nothing but a computer science experiment. Government agencies should use this album as a form of torture.

Favourite songs: Sunset

Least favourite songs: Bunny is a Rider (who thinks a baby crying would make a satisfying back beat? 44 million people apparently.... I weap for humanity... ), Hopedrunk Everasking (please change the batteries in your smoke detector before recording any more tracks....) and the rest of this gross drivel....

1/5

Rubbish

You guys gotta stop adding albums I'm excited to listen to for the first time, they always seem to disappoint.

I remember this album getting a lot of hype a couple of years ago, it never clicked with my at the time, listening back now I agree this is really good. One to be added to a list of great new music, but just not my personal taste for a frequent rotation.