MUSIC REVIEW: POLIÇA - 'GIVE YOU THE GHOST'

Goth-Pop Synth Tunes on an Album of Generous Spirits

By: Andrew Shaw

February 13, 2012

(Totally Gross National Product) Give You the Ghost is the result of a collaborative endeavor from Gayngs members Channy Casselle and Ryan Olson, operating under the moniker of Poliça. The catalytic nature of the project meant that a creative spark in June of 2011 resulted in a blazing eleven tracks within just a month of work. Additions to the line-up came in the form of bass player Chris Bierdan and two drummers, Ben Ivascu and Drew Christopherson. Adding further intriguing dimension to the project was the vocal addition of Bon Iver’s Mike Noye on a couple of songs. All tracks were recorded and carried to Austin, Texas to be mixed by Spoon’s Jim Eno…so the pedigree of the project was sealed.

The hype surrounding this project has not been slight, nor has it been conclusive. Sometimes the overwhelming hunger of fanbase leads to the kind of appetite that will gorge on anything served by beloved artists; discernment takes second place to status of cred or quality. In the case of this collection, hype may be justifiably high, but it fails to explore the depths of sounds. Hype, after all, is just hype. Poliça is serving a new kind of thing, almost entirely. Yes, there is familiarity of tone, but something else is going on.

Those who know Casselle’s voice will find it with a new kind of significance – perhaps a result of Eno’s mix, which suppresses the most bombastic of rhythm sections with the ethereal strain of vocal tracks. Often lyrical sense is lost, and words fall out of audible definition, but what’s left is a kind of sonic hallucination -- disorientating, bottomless, and brilliant. Often these songs suggest and reference, rather than examine and define. As the title may suggest, these songs are more apparitions than they are confirmed sightings. For all the magnitude of beats – which are often at the brink over wiping out any resisting force – and for the usually crisp elements of synth work, this collection is stunningly fluid; it moves in like smoke, filling spaces.

“Wandering Star” – one of the tracks featuring Mike Noyce -- is a treat. Concepts of loss, absence, and brevity measure themselves against a fantastically warm bass. “After all, I’m married to the wandering star / I kissed his moon / It was full and I fell in love with thee / But now, the world turns around me” is a verse that sinks to the center of the process with the unusual gravity of traditional magic realism. A genuine highlight. Which leads to the closing track.

“Leading to Death” deals with the path that leads to the ghostly. By contrast to the rest of the collection, with the exception of the weighty “Dark Star,” this, perhaps ironically, opens as the most grounded track. What starts as borderline funk becomes a regimented snare, becomes a bleepscape of trippy tones and heavenly lights. If, to become comfortable with our own lives, we first need to accept death, Poliça paves the way for comfortable transition at the end (which is not perceived as the end). A hugely comfortable, near playful song presents the most jubilant passage of the collection.

Give You the Ghost has all the feel of being one of those albums which is simply of themselves. It can belong in pop-goth or alt-electronica. It can be housed in many bodies, but it does seem most appropriately respected by being allowed to float beyond concrete definition. Usually for a project to make sense on one level, then pull in another direction, a degree of focus would be lost, and attention would find somewhere else to go. Here, the variety of perspectives is the one focal point, and it works incredibly well. Among all the emotional demands that this album may make of you, the most base, physical demand is that it belongs with high volume.

Standout Tracks: “Wandering Star,” “Dark Star,” “Leading to Death”

For Fans Of: Zola Jesus, Sigur Ros Glasser