Minneapolis continues its golden run of producing great new bands with the first project to arrive out the Gayngs collective, the super slick electronic pop-soul outfit Poliça. Fronted by ice cool vocalist Channy Leanagh who sang with Gayngs, produced by Ryan Olson and featuring Mike Noyce from Bon Iver, it’s a who’s who of the current Twin Cities scene.
After collaborating in the studio and live with Gayngs in 2010, it became apparent that Channy and Ryan should form a group of their own. “As touring progressed and Channy got more comfortable with the band and singing the songs, she would reinvent the parts she was doing in brilliant ways. It made me want to see where else she could go” explains Olson. Ryan’s pop sensibilities and electronic adventurism would prove to be the perfect vehicle for Channy’s recent growth and evolution as a vocalist and dynamic experimentalist. In June 2011, they began writing new music together. It would become Poliça’s debut album, Give You The Ghost.
The result is 11 perfectly formed songs that re-shape the intersection of pop and digitised R&B. And for all Poliça’s synthetic manipulation, Channy’s soft vocals and Ryan’s electronic soundscapes reveal a tender heart beneath, pulsating with life and raw emotion. Give You The Ghost opens with the attention grabbing sonic of first track ‘Amongster’, the two drummers immediately coming into full effect as it builds to a heady mass of beats, bass and Channy’s wandering vocals. ‘Violent Games’ continues the heavy on the drums theme, with duelling beats that intensify to machine gun-like levels, led by Channy’s urgent and cyclical vocals “Tremble at the taste of / Tremble at the taste of / Tremble at the taste of in his hands”.
The dreamy ‘Wandering Star’ features Mike Noyce of Bon Iver on vocals and is deliciously funk laden as it is hypnotic, with more ratatat drums from Ben Ivascu and Drew Christopherson, propelling the lush arrangement and slinky bass, provided by Chris Bierden. Here’s the brand new video:
Poliça has announced a headlining tour for the fall. Here are the dates so far:
06/02 – Soundcheck Festival – Austin, TX
06/23 – River’s Edge Festival – St. Paul, MN
08/03 – Osheaga – Montreal, QC
08/05 – Lollapalooza – Chicago, IL
08/16 – The Biltmore – Vancouver, BC
08/17 – Nuemos – Seattle, WA
08/18 – The Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR
08/20 – The Independent – San Francisco, CA
08/21 – Echoplex – Los Angeles, CA
08/23 – The Pool @ Cosmopolitan – Las Vegas, NV
08/25 – The Blue Bird Theater – Denver, CO
09/26 – Maintenance Shop – Ames, IA
09/27 – Mojo’s – Columbia, OH
09/28 – High Watt – Nashville, TN
09/29 – Counterpoint Music Festival – Atlanta, GA
10/01 – Cat’s Cradle – Raleigh, NC
10/02 – Black Cat – Washington, D.C
10/03 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA
10/04 – Iron Horse Music Hall – Northhampton, MA
10/05 – Paradise – Boston, MA
10/06 – Webster Hall – New York, N.Y
10/08 – The Basement – Columbus, OH
10/09 – 20th Century Theatre – Cincinatti, OH
10/11 – Stickyz – Little Rock, AK
10/14 – ACL – Austin, TX