Poliça aren’t lacking support. Jay Z posted one of their videos on his blog. Prince turned up to check out their live debut. Bon Iver's Mike Noyce sings on a couple of Give You the Ghost’s tracks. For an outfit whose debut album is only just getting its UK release (it was issued in the States in February), Poliça have got the jump on most contenders. They’ve also got an added leg up by having their origins in hip Minneapolis collective Gayngs. Most importantly, Give You the Ghost is great.
Like Gayngs, Poliça – Polish for policy – aren’t a band. Both are projects drawing together producers and musicians. Poliça are producer Ryan Olsen’s vehicle for vocalist Channy Leanagh. He is Gayngs’s prime mover. She sang for them. The overt 10CC references defining Olsen’s previous outings have been ditched in favour of a super-smooth, R&B sheen. Leanagh’s treated voice is like oil.
All this is initially a bit off-putting. Something this deliberate, this crafted has to be a either a bit soulless or suspect? That said, most of today’s R&B/urban hits are peppered with millions of credits. But in the indie world? Moments after sticking Give you the Ghost on, the niggling doubts fade away. The album opens with “Amongster”, a drifting slice of mystery that leans towards the ghostliness of Fever Ray as much as R&B. It sets the table for a series of vaporous excursions with pulsing rhythms. Leanagh’s auto-tuned voice sounds like it’s coming through from a distant radio station. The spectre of Lana Del Rey beams in. This is the more subtle, less explicit and more satisfying counterpart to her Born to Die.
Watch the video for Poliça’s “Amongster”
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