The 2010s were defined by retrospectivity. A wave crashed on itself; churned a froth of remixes, re-imaginings, and reinterpretations of already-haggard ideas. But even this perpetual break was nothing new—merely the extension of a facsimile of past artists.
On When We Stay Alive, Poliça continue a pattern of being greater than the sum of their parts. Language may be well-worn, its clauses played-out. But Poliça exact such a successful blending of influences that those influences dissolve completely. This is not some kitschy nostalgia-act or Julee Cruise-a-like. When We Stay Alive constantly presents new ways to inflect old sounds.
The most immediate appeal of Poliça’s music, especially when compared to that of their dream-pop contemporaries, is its muscularity. Tracks are punchy, compact, concise. There is an appealing ugliness to When We Stay Alive. Radiohead’s Thom Yorke once criticised his vocals as being ‘too pretty’. This proves not to be a problem for Poliça vocalist Channy Leaneagh. She balances the natural delicacy of her own voice with a potent, almost frightening conviction of delivery—even if half the time it does still sound like she’s singing through a desk fan. Absent is the bubblegummy self-infantalisation and waftiness that made Grimes’ Art Angels such a chore.
Ryan Olson, on production duties, grounds Leaneagh’s work. When We Stay Alive has the feel of a Daniel Lopatin project; full of tenderness despite an artificial, sucked-up-through-a-straw feel and some inhumanly brawny bass. An array of sounds can be heard, but—as with their corralled influences—Poliça combine these into something which feels both singular and complete. It’s the most confident the band have ever sounded.
The title of When We Stay Alive supposedly refers to Leaneagh’s rallying from an accident which had left her gravely injured, and left her on the brink of shelving music altogether. A renewed awareness of her mortality (and a lot of time off work) inspired the construction of half of the tracks on this LP. But the title speaks to a broader kind of survival, too. Poliça were always more than the fashions around them—on When We Stay Alive, they’ve proved it. Let’s see if another wave comes up behind them.
When We Stay Alive is available for purchase and streaming here.
Words by Andrew O’Keefe