Music / Caroline Polachek

Just another girl in a sweater.

Caroline Elizabeth Polachek is an American singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer.

Born in 1985 to a classically trained musician, she learned to sing and play synth as a young child while simultaneously absorbing the influence of traditional Japanese songs and Enya, which her parents would play to calm her down. She formed the band Chairlift with her then-boyfriend Aaron Pfenning in 2005, which formally broke up in 2016. Caroline began releasing solo music under the pseudonym "Ramona Lisa" in 2013 while still a member of Chairlift, but it wasn't until the band had officially broken up that her solo career began to truly flourish.

Caroline's 2016 collaboration with PC Music's Danny L. Harle on "Ashes of Love" cemented her as a member of the then-fledgling Hyperpop scene, and she has since collaborated with Hyperpop mainstays like Charli XCX ^note On "Tears", "New Shapes", and uncredited vocals on "Delicious", A.G. Cook ^note Uncredited vocals on "Lifeline," "Alright," and "Chandelier," as well as a remix of "Oh Yeah", felicita ^note On "Marzipan", and more. Her first album under her real name, 2019's Pang, was produced by Harle and catapulted her to new heights as a critical darling (with Dazed even naming it the best album of the year) and a bona-fide indie-pop star. She has since released two singles, "Bunny Is a Rider" (2021) and "Billions" (2022), the former of which was named "Best Song of 2021" by Pitchfork. Both songs are featured on her sophomore album, Desire, I Want To Turn Into You.

Caroline's Signature Style is defined by her powerful, almost operatic vocals and dreamy, lush instrumentals. She touches on themes of love, longing, and fear in her lyrics. Besides being a vocalist, she is also a talented instrumentalist, and frequently directs and edits her own music videos.

---

Discography:

With Chairlift:

• Daylight Savings (EP) (2007)
• Does You Inspire You (Album) (2008)
• Something (Album) (2012)
• Chairlift at 6:15 (EP) (2012)
• Moth (Album) (2016)

As a solo artist:

• Arcadia (Album) (2014) ^note Credited as Ramona Lisa
• Dominic (EP) (2014) ^note Credited as Ramona Lisa
• Piano Versions (EP) (2015) ^note Credited as Ramona Lisa
• Drawing the Target Around the Arrow (Album) (2017)^note Credited as CEP
• Pang (Album) (2019)
• Pang [Instrumental] (Album) (2020) ^note Bandcamp-exclusive release
• Standing at the Gate: Remix Collection (Album) (2021) ^note Vinyl-exclusive release
• Desire, I Want to Turn Into You (Album) (2023)
• Desire, I Want to Turn Into You: Everasking Edition (Deluxe Version) (2024)

---

Not like I'm counting the tropes...

• Album Closure: "Parachute," the last track of Pang, is one of the most slow and dreamy songs on the album, with lyrics about embracing change in keeping with the album's overarching narrative of a breakup and subsequent new relationship.
• Album Intro Track: "The Gate," the first track of Pang, is significantly shorter and spacier than most of the songs on the album while very much serving as a "gate" into the album's rich and ethereal sound.
• Album Title Drop: Desire, I Want to Turn Into You gets namedropped throughout the chorus of the Album Intro Track, "Welcome To My Island."
• Ascended Meme: Caroline's appearance at PC Music's 2020 online music event "7 by 7" — which consists entirely of Caroline walking around a lake and making various vocalizations to herself — resulted in a meme based around several moments where she imitates the screeches of nearby geese. In her 2023 track "Dang" (a bonus track for the deluxe edition of Desire, I Want to Turn Into You), she would sample that particular screech, and the song's single artwork displays her arm painted to look like the head of a goose.
• Break Up Song: "I Give Up" is about Caroline, well, giving up on a relationship that she feels is beyond saving.
• Call-Back: Self-sampling is all over Desire I Want To Turn Into You.
  • The whistle from "Bunny Is a Rider'' appears at the end of "I Believe."
  • The bagpipe solo on "Blood and Butter" plays the melody that Grimes sings on "Fly to You."
  • The verses on "Smoke" are the same melody as the "da da-da da" part on "Pretty in Possible."
  • The baby laughing sounds appears at the end of "Dang."
  • Lyrics to "Blood and Butter" appear on "Spring Is Coming With a Strawberry In The Mouth."
  • Caroline recites the first verse from "Hopedrunk Everasking" on "Coma."
• The Cameo: Weyes Blood is the barista in the video for "Welcome to My Island."
• Christmas Songs: Caroline released a Sequel Song for "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings" called "So Cold You're Hurting My Feelings" in December 2020 via PC Music's "Pop Carol" livestream, a Bizarro Universe version that replaces the original's steamy, lustful lyrics with wintry, christmas-y ones (for example, "show me the banana" becomes "I'm a good girl, Santa").
• Cover Version: Of "Breathless" by The Corrs, "Spring Is Coming With a Strawberry In the Mouth" by Operating Theatre, and "Pharmacoma" by Default Genders.
• Creator Cameo: The cover art of Desire, I Want to Turn Into You features Caroline posing inside a crowded train car, and among the people behind her is recurring co-producer Danny L. Harle, who is also carrying his daughter. The songs "Bunny is a Rider" and "Dang" also feature a sample of a baby giggling, which was confirmed to be of Harle's daughter.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: "Dang" is full of innuendo.
  It's a shame, it's just a shame
  I spilled the milk on the bed
• Epic Rocking:
  • "Door" manages to clock in at over five minutes thanks to its minute-long outro that consists of Caroline vocalizing wordlessly over a buzzy, abrasive instrumental.
  • The "Extended Mix" of "The Gate" is over 10 minutes long, in stark contrast to the original version which stops just short of two.
• Escapism: A major lyrical theme throughout Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, which — as the title implies — frequently expresses Caroline's wish to not merely indulge in, but become the things that she loves about the world, isolated from her problems and indulging in the luxuries of self-control. "Welcome To My Island" is a pretty tongue-in-cheek thesis for the album on the matter (Caroline frequently describes it as her most "bratty" song for just how entitled it is), and it's also tied to songs like "Blood and Butter" and "Fly To You," which describe escapism through being with loved ones.
• Foreshadowing: "Pang" features the lyric "I open the door and you run through," introducing the door-as-metaphor-for-intimacy motif that serves as the central theme of "Door". In fact, "Door"'s chorus is actually an inversion of the aforementioned lyric:
  You open the door to another door to another door to another door to another door
  And I'm running through to you
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: The slides in Caroline's PowerPoint presentation from her performance of "Dang" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert range from baffling to hilarious, but due to the fact that she speeds through them to the beat of the music, you're likely to miss many of them. It's definitely worth your time to go through and pause to read each one though. Highlights include a Notes app apology for eating a friend's grapes (a reference to this poem), the color of the year being a slab of concrete, and a slide that just reads "YESSSS oh my god this is so much fun HAHAHAHA."
• Future Me Scares Me: In "Look At Me Now," she alternates between singing from the perspective of her past and current selves, lamenting that her past self would be ashamed of her failure to change and grow as a person.
• Genre Roulette: Desire I Want To Turn Into You is overall considered an art pop album, but also dives into breakbeat, Trip Hop, R&B, and flamenco pop.
• Grief Song: "I Believe" is about her late friend SOPHIE.
  I don't know, but I believe
  We'll get another day together
• I Have Many Names: In addition to her work with Chairlift, she's released solo music under her actual name, "Ramona Lisa," and "CEP."
• Let's Duet: A three-way duet between Caroline, Grimes, and Dido on "Fly to You."
• Lyrical Dissonance: "I Give Up" and "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings" are fun and perky pop songs with angsty lyrics about relationship troubles.
• Metal Scream: Caroline is able to pull off the rare high-pitched variety, as seen in tracks like "Dang" or Charli XCX's "Tears." When combined with her often gentle and serene instrumentals, the effect manages to be simultaneously gritty yet also oddly soft and ethereal.
• Perfectly Cromulent Word: "Mythicalogical" and "Wikipediated" on "Blood and Butter."
• Remix Album: Pang got one two years after its release, featuring contributions from PC Music's A. G. Cook, Toro y Moi, George Clanton, and Oklou, as well as an extended version of "The Gate" and a Cover Version of The Corrs' "Breathless."
• Sampling: An odd example with "Coma," which is sort of a sample and sort of a cover of "Pharmacoma" by Default Genders.
• Seamless Scenery: After visually establishing the abstract designs on Caroline's phone screen a few times, the "Door" music video seamlessly moves into the phone and reveals the designs to be a three-dimensional animated world of their own.
• Shout-Out:
  • It's hard to notice if you aren't actively looking for it, but about halfway through the music video for "Bunny is a Rider," a box labeled "Whole New World" is visible, referencing a song by fellow PC Music affiliate and Hyper Pop pioneer SOPHIE. Since "Bunny" was released only a few months after SOPHIE's death, this was likely intended as a subtle dedication.
  • It's debated on whether or not "Bunny Is a Rider" is intentionally referencing "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider" by of Montreal.
  • References Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on "Bunny Is a Rider," which also contains the lyric "Tryin' to go ask Alice."
  • "Hopedrunk Everasking" is a reference to Macbeth.
  • "Dang" references Mary Poppins.
• Silly Love Songs:
  • "Caroline Shut Up" is about as saccharine as Caroline can possibly get: a self-talk assuring herself that it's okay that she loves her partner so much that it almost feels like too much.
  • "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings," though it does have some angsty lyrics, is at its core a very sweet song about missing a long-distance lover and wanting to be with them.
  • Likewise, "Ocean of Tears," despite its morbid-seeming title, is about Caroline yearning for contact with a new lover and hoping for a long and happy future with them, even if it takes some work.
• Singer Namedrop: In "Caroline Shut Up," she addresses herself by name as she gives herself a pep-talk about not overthinking her current relationship.
  Sometimes I wonder, "Do I love you too much?"
  Then I tell myself "Caroline, shut up!"
• Sitting on the Roof: At the beginning of the "Door" music video, Caroline is seen sitting atop a roof at night, staring out into the distance as she sings the song's solemn lyrics.
• Softer and Slower Cover: The acoustic version of "I Believe" which takes influence from trip hop.
• Soundtrack Dissonance: The music video for "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings," an upbeat pop song, is a classic pop video full of cutesy choreography...that's set in hell. Evidently, the song and the video have different interpretations of the word "hot."
• Spoken Word in Music: The interlude "Meanwhile" and the bridge on "Coma" from the Everasking Edition.
• Surreal Music Video:
  • The "Door" video moves the viewer through concentric portals between Caroline's legs that lead to Caroline singing in a world where the horizon is bent into a circle, before she takes out her phone, which we then travel into to discover an Escher-esque rollercoaster for marbles...actually, maybe you should just watch it yourself.
  • "Welcome to My Island" has, among other things, Caroline ordering a coffee from Weyes Blood which she later vomits volcano-style, running through a construction site, fighting sperm, and taking a minotaur (who we see in first person) by its leg to the beach.
• Title Track:
  • Dominic's first track, aptly, is named "Dominic."
  • Arcadia has "Arcadia" as well as "Arcadia Reprise."
  • Pang's second song is named "Pang."
• Uncommon Time: "Look At Me Now" is in 7/4.
• Updated Re Release: Desire I Want To Turn Into You: Everasking Edition which comes with several bonus tracks and an alternative version of "Butterfly Net" with Weyes Blood and an acoustic version of "I Believe."
• Visual Title Drop: On the cover of Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, there's a crude drawing of an angel on the ceiling of the train that Caroline is crawling through, in reference to the song on the album titled "Crude Drawing of an Angel."
• Word Salad Lyrics:
  • The verses of "Hit Me Where It Hurts," though they seem to describe a whirlwind vacation with a new lover when all put together, are pretty surreal and almost nonsensical on their own.
  • "Dang" pushes these even further, with completely nonsensical verses and a chorus made up of babbling noises.
• World Music: Desire, I Want to Turn Into You indulges in much more varied, internationally-sourced inspiration for its sounds than Pang, featuring the likes of bagpipes, flamenco guitar, dembow-style drums, and children's choirs.

---