Caroline Polachek : Parachute Review

Caroline Elizabeth Polachek is best known as the vocalist for Chairlift, as well as for writing and producing Beyoncé’s single “No Angel”.  Polachek has certainly been prolific with her own career.  She released her debut solo album, Arcadia, under her stage name Ramona Lisa in 2014 with her second album in 2017, titled Drawing The Target Around The Arrow, which she released as CEP. Now in 2019, Polachek is releasing under her own name. The new release will be titled Pang and will hit the sales outlets in autumn of 2019.

About the Album

For Polachek’s third release, Pang, she has shared two of its tracks, “Ocean of Tears” and “Parachute.” The tracks represent the first and last songs written for Pang and both were produced by Danny L Harle, a member of London’s PC Music label and a past collaborator with artists such as Carly Rae Jepsen, Tinashe and Panda Bear. On the track “Ocean of Tears,” Polachek also enlisted production by Valley Girl and A.G. Cook, another PC Music producer and frequent Charli XCX collaborator. On “Parachute,” Polachek stated, “It was an incredible moment, realizing that this melody we’d written was unintentionally retelling a dream I’d been shaken by. I went home, redrafted the words to fit, and came back to the studio at 1am to record the vocal the same day. And that’s the take we kept. From that moment on, Dan and I knew we had a lot more work to do together.” She adds, “‘Parachute’ is about the total trust that only comes with total emergency. Like a mayfly trying its wings for the first time over a large body of water full of hungry fish… and the wings work.”

Our Favorite Track

Our favorite track is “Parachute.” With Polachek’s ethereal voice being supported by string sounds and synth chords, the melody shows Polachek’s upper register is full and as beautiful as her mid and lower registers. The instrumentation is kept simple, with the focus being on Polachek’s singing and ability to carry the melody and lyrical storyline. The falsetto notes are glorious, and her ornamentation of the various lines show control and her ability to effortlessly negotiate multiple registers all within one phrase. A beautiful song sung by a beautiful voice.

In Conclusion

Caroline Polachek is one of those rare artists that is meant to step forward from behind the scenes. Her writing is top shelf, but her voice is celestial, with gorgeous sweeping abilities Polachek is a breath of fresh air in the modern world of music.