Caroline Polachek

The leap from Chairlift’s thoughtful synth-pop to the baroque, alien world of Caroline Polachek’s solo work is one for the ages. After the band’s 2017 split, she didn’t just re-emerge; she fully atomized her sound, reassembling it with producer Danny L Harle into something thrillingly new. On 2019’s Pang, her voice became the central event—a vessel for operatic runs, digital yodels, and breathtaking glissandos over skeletal, crystalline beats. That album was a re-introduction, but 2023’s Desire, I Want to Turn Into You is the coronation, a masterclass in pop maximalism that proves she’s not just a vocalist but a world-builder, crafting a universe where the ancient and the futuristic collide.