In maart van dit jaar kregen we verschrikkelijk nieuws van Poliça, zangeres Channy Leaneagh kwam zwaar ten val toen ze sneeuw wilde ruimer van dhet dak van haar huis in Minnesota. Geen wonder dat hun 4de plaat die begin 2020 verschijnt de titel mee krijgt When We Stay Alive. Driving is de eerste single die we nu te horen krijgen van de synth-pop/trip-hop band. Een song waarin haar val voorop staat "snow falls on the tip of my tongue tasting blood of the violence to come". Ook het gevoel van machteloos te liggen in een bed, hopend dat je ooit weer kan opstaan, reflecteert zich in de tekst. "Legs running in the tall tear grass, imagine wanting life and the want remains.”
De sound van Poliça is blijft overeind, al is Driving iets rustiger dan het vorige werk. Ook aan de zo herkenbare stem van Channy is gelukkig niets veranderd. De verwachtingen zijn hoog gespannen voor de nieuwe plaat in januari én het optreden in maart in de Botanique.
Even voorstellen
Poliça is an American synth-pop band from Minneapolis, formed in 2011. The band consists of Channy Leaneagh (vocals, synth), Chris Bierden (bass), Drew Christopherson (drums) and Ben Ivascu (drums), with Ryan Olson joining the band in a studio context as its producer. While half of When We Stay Alive was written before the fall, and half afterwards, the tracks meld together in a coherent and redemptive sonic whole. Those written before the fall relay ideas with a more heightened sense of anxiety and distress. Inspired by the power found in her healing process, on the second batch of songs Leaneagh tried a slightly different approach, working to reevaluate her past, difficult personal experiences and bring in a sense of insight, strength, and light that perhaps wasn’t there at the time. On Poliça’s first three albums, Leaneagh focused on restructuring the world and her relationships within it. On When We Stay Alive, she realizes the power in restructuring her inner self. The album’s title references the idea of moving forward through life – our experiences, both good and bad – and what happens next with the strength we find. “I had been living unconsciously in past trauma,” Leaneagh says. “I don’t want to deny something happened – this is not about repression – it’s about taking the power back from the past, holding the power in the present, and creating a new story for myself.”
