Caroline Polachek has released many projects in her lifetime; three full-length albums as part of synth-pop band Chairlift (2005-2017), as well as solo records under monikers Ramona Lisa and CEP. She has worked with well-known artists like Charli XCX, and has even co-produced a Beyoncé song. But Pang is something else. Her first album under her own name, Pang is like a new introduction – a rebirth.
Though the album is co-produced by Danny L Harle, member of exaggerated hyper-pop record-label-meets-art-collective PC Music, with which Polachek is often associated, this album is in many ways the complete opposite of that. The production, while interesting with some futuristic elements, is oftentimes understated, almost minimalistic, particularly on the slower tracks. What this does is shift the focus towards Polachek’s voice and lyricism, resulting in something so personal that it’s no wonder she decided to start using her own name.
It is unsurprising, then, that Pang isn’t exactly the most light-hearted record out there. Thematically, the album deals with sadness, guilt, anxiety – a ‘pang’ is literally defined as a ‘sudden sharp pain or painful emotion.’ On the title track, she uses the word as an onomatopoeic exclamation, as if being repeatedly struck by lightning, the sound of two people crashing into each other.
Ocean of Tears sees Polachek looking into a parallel version of her own life, one in which everything is perfect, but no matter how far she reaches, she can’t grab it (“Oh my god, I wanna know what it feels like / just an inch away from living a dream life”). Her post-chorus vocalisation is so sorrowful, it remains isolated even as the instrumentation swells and judders beneath it.
This track marks a turning point for the album – the bitter storm subsides, and the sun starts to shine through the clouds of melancholy. It takes on a more hopeful tone, and she tells the negative voices in her head to be quiet (literally, on Caroline Shut Up).
It’s in this second half that we get Polachek’s take on ‘classic’ pop – the self-explanatory So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings. Unlike the other songs on the album, this one is just dumb and fun, with a bridge that may or may not consist solely of the line “show me your banana”. With such a catchy chorus and strong vocal melody, this track is very ‘I’m in an 80’s film singing into a hairbrush because that’s what people do.’
The album’s lead single Door, released back in June, is a surrealist painter’s fever dream. The chorus, with its looping lyrics and echoing vocals (“You open the door / To another door, to another door / To another door, to another door”) is strange and disorienting, yet so sentimental and welcoming. You don’t know what it’s about, but you know it’s about a lot.
The same could be said about Pang in general. Unlike the feeling which its title refers to, this album is not sudden. It is layered and intricate, poetic, bleak at times, but also weird and exciting. It’s not Chairlift, or CEP, or Ramona Lisa, it is Caroline Polachek.
You can stream ‘PANG’ here.
8/10
Words: Jacob Chamberlain