''Desire, I Want to Turn Into You'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter and producer Caroline Polachek, and second under her given name. It was released on February 14, 2023, by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

The Orchard The Orchard may refer to: * The Orchard (company), American music and entertainment company * The Orchard (band), Canadian country music duo * ''The Orchard'' (Lizz Wright album), 2008 * ''The Orchard'' (Ra Ra Riot album), 2010 * The Orchard (t ...

, and Polachek's imprint Perpetual Novice. Polachek produced most of the album alongside Danny L Harle. It was supported by the singles " Bunny Is a Rider", " Billions", "Sunset", " Welcome to My Island", "Blood and Butter" and "Smoke". The album received widespread acclaim from critics, with several calling it Polachek's best work and acclaiming its experimentation. It charted in Belgium, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. It received a nomination for

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes: * In 1959, the award was known as Best Engineered Record – Non-Classical * In 1960, it was awarded as Best Engineeri ...

at the 66th Grammy Awards. A deluxe edition of the album, subtitled ''Everasking Edition'', is set to be released on February 14, 2024, the standard edition's first anniversary. It was supported by the singles " Dang" and a new version of "Butterfly Net" with

Weyes Blood Natalie Laura Mering (born June 11, 1988), known professionally as Weyes Blood (pronounced ), is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She was primarily raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. She has been performing her own material under ...

Background

After releasing ''

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'' in late 2019, Polachek was set to tour the record, but was cut short by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in March 2020. Polachek stayed in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and began work on ''Desire, I Want to Turn Into You'' with close collaborator Danny L Harle. She considers the album to be a major partnership with Harle, as the record has "few other collaborators in the mix". She continued work on the album in London until mid-2021, where she briefly relocated to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

alongside Harle and new collaborator Sega Bodega. In November 2021, Polachek was featured on Charli XCX's " New Shapes" alongside Christine and the Queens. She then embarked on a North American tour with French musician Oklou for the remainder of 2021.

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...

announced Polachek as a supporting act on the North American and Canadian legs of the Future Nostalgia Tour from February to July 2022, performing at many festivals as well. Polachek was featured on Flume's " Sirens" in March, and wrote and produced the track "

Afar Afar may refer to: Peoples and languages *Afar language, an East Cushitic language *Afar people, an ethnic group of Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia Places Horn of Africa *Afar Desert or Danakil Desert, a desert in Ethiopia *Afar Region, a region ...

" for Hyd in July. She rescheduled European tour dates to finish work on ''Desire, I Want to Turn Into You''. Six weeks ahead of the album release, in an interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Polachek confirmed three more song titles: "Blood and Butter", "Pretty in Possible", and "Smoke".

Composition

''Desire, I Want to Turn Into You'' has been described as an art pop, alternative pop, and

new-age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

record, with elements of electronic,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, and trip-hop. Shaad D'Souza of ''The Guardian'' wrote: "Ratcheting up both the fantastical elements of its predecessor as well as its humour and pop instinct, ''Desire'' is an

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

, elaborate and cheekily deranged sequel, and one of the year's most anticipated releases". The album features

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

, children's choirs, Spanish guitar, "beats that run the gamut" from '' Ray of Light''-style trip-hop to dembow,

Celtic folk Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerab ...

, and early '00s-style radio pop. Polachek herself described it as "a very maximalist album".

Release

''Desire, I Want to Turn Into You'' was announced in December 2022. At the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on February 4, 2024, Polachek hinted that she would be releasing something on

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

, which is ''Desire''s first anniversary. Three days later, the deluxe version of the album, subtitled ''Everasking Edition'', was announced.

Singles

Polachek released the lead single " Bunny Is a Rider" in July 2021, which was written before she went into lockdown. She released the trip hop inspired " Billions" as a single in February. Polachek stated the song took 19 months to finish. The single featured a rework of "Long Road Home", her collaboration with

Oneohtrix Point Never Daniel Lopatin (born July 25, 1982), best known as Oneohtrix Point Never or OPN, is an American experimental electronic music producer, composer, singer and songwriter. His music has experimented with tropes from various music genres and eras, s ...

from his 2020 album ''

Magic Oneohtrix Point Never ''Magic Oneohtrix Point Never'' is the ninth studio album by American electronic producer Daniel Lopatin, under his alias Oneohtrix Point Never, released on October 30, 2020, via Warp. The album draws on a psychedelic radio aesthetic strongly insp ...

'', as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. "Sunset" was released as a single in October. Polachek has cited

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...

Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

film scores as an influence on the song. " Welcome to My Island", which Polachek calls her "brattiest song to date", was released alongside the album announcement. On January 20, a remix by Charli XCX and the 1975's George Daniel was released. "Blood and Butter" was released on January 31, 2023. "Smoke" was released as a single on April 6, 2023, during her Spiraling Tour. It was accompanied by a music video that premiered on the same day. Polachek released " Dang" on October 17, 2023, as the lead single from ''Desire, I Want to Turn Into You: Everasking Edition''. She performed the song the same evening on ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second it ...

''. After Polachek and

performed "Butterfly Net" live together several times throughout 2023, including at the

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

and

Fuji Rock Festival is an annual rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The three-day event, organized by Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it the largest outdoor music event in Japan. ...

s, they released their joint version of the song on February 7, 2024, alongside the ''Everasking Edition'' announcement.

Critical reception

Upon release, ''Desire, I Want to Turn Into You'' received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 94, based on 19 critical reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Aggregator

AnyDecentMusic? AnyDecentMusic? is a website that collates album reviews from magazines, websites, and newspapers. Primarily focused on popular music – covering rock, pop, electronic, dance, folk, country, roots, hip-hop, R&B, and rap – albums are adjudg ...

gave the album a 8.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. Reviewing the album for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Matt Collar opined that the album "finds Polachek unapologetically embracing her inner pop diva, purposefully referencing a '90s and early-2000s pop aesthetic. This is an album of balmy trip-hop grooves, where electric bass riffs, finger-snap beats, and sky-blue synths caress her angelically swooping vocals like dolphins chasing a boat. It's an immediately evocative vibe that she commits to, deftly walking a fine line between earnest romanticism and artful irony." He concluded that with the album, "Polachek breaks free from outside expectations and transforms her inner anxieties into an intoxicating pop euphoria." Cat Zhang of '' Pitchfork'' wrote that the album was the best of Polachek's career, giving it the distinction of "Best New Music". Maura Johnston reviewed the album positively for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', calling Polachek an "undeniable talent as a vocalist and arranger" and the album a "kinetic example of what happens when pop sets out to transcend its own limits." In a mixed review for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', Ella Kemp praised Polachek's experimentation but said that some tracks "suffer dfrom a more abstract vision" and called the album an "uneven collection". Gabbie Nirenburg also provided a middling opinion about the album in a review for ''No Ripcord'', calling it “just fine” and positing the question: "Is there anything on this record that is really SO unique or special or different from every other competent art pop album out there?"

Tour

Polachek embarked on the Spiraling Tour to promote ''Desire, I Want to Turn Into You''. The tour included North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, beginning on 10 February in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, England and ending on 13 December 2023 in

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, Australia.

Track listing

Notes * signifies a co-producer

Personnel

Musicians * Caroline Polachek – lead vocals * Danny L Harle – bass (tracks 1, 3, 5, 9) *

Dan Nigro Daniel Leonard Nigro (born May 14, 1982) is an American musician, songwriter, instrumentalist and record producer. He was the lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band As Tall As Lions. Nigro has produced, written and co-written songs ...

– guitar (tracks 1, 5) * Nico Harle – additional vocals (track 3) * Marco Lopez – guitar (track 4) * Sega Bodega – guitar (track 4) * Samuel Organ – guitar (tracks 4, 10) * Miquel Mestres – guitar (track 7) *

Brìghde Chaimbeul Brìghde Chaimbeul (; born 1998) is a Scottish bagpipe player, who plays the traditional Great Highland bagpipe and the revived Scottish smallpipes. Life Chaimbeul was born in 1998 and brought up in Sleat on the Isle of Skye, and is a native ...

– bagpipes (track 8) * Kirin J Callinan – guitar (track 8) * Todd Oliver – guitar (track 10) * The Trinity Choir – additional vocals (tracks 10, 12) * Matthew Horton – guitar (track 11) Technical * Chris Gehringer – mastering * Geoff Swan – mixing * Macks Faulkron –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

(track 8) Artwork * Aidan Zamiri – all photography * Yuma Burgess – subway map * David Uzquiza – packaging art direction,

monogram A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series o ...

design * Isha Dipika Walia – package design

Charts

References