Caroline Polachek’s previous band Chairlift trafficked in indie R&B, earning the New York outfit both cult status and commercial recognition thanks to an iPod Nano ad. Two years on from their demise, this solo debut by Polachek – a singer blessed with “organic Autotune” – finds her working alongside avant-pop producer and erstwhile PC Music operative Danny L Harle.
Pang – a great title, suggesting melancholy by means of an onomatopoeic jolt – offers a lush take on hyper-modern pop. It bears vague similarities to a clutch of fellow travellers, while remaining palpably personal. Insomnia’s ecstatic aches suggest Björk or Weyes Blood; So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings digitises Haim, and the pairing of a PC Music alumnus with a bold singer has its analogue in Charli XCX’s recent album.
This is very much Polachek’s show, however, with Harle’s most ear-poking tendencies reined in. But while the aerated R&B of Ocean Full of Tears or the three-legged rhythms of I Give Up convince, this record is just shy of being truly groundbreaking. Polachek remains too much of a class act, a little too wedded to conventional beauty on songs like Look At Me Now, to really take her pop to the bleeding edge.
