The Minneapolis electronic-pop outfit Poliça have released their first single from their forthcoming album, When We Stay Alive, out in January of next year. The song digs deeply into a past traumatic experience of lead singer Channy Leaneagh, with its accompanying video shows just how destructive of a force this trauma can become.
“Driving” pushes along with an ominous feeling as the subdued instrumentation gives way to Leaneagh’s vocals. As she sings, her lines evoke disturbing images like a “crow begging a hawk for its meat” and “bones bend to eat the shit from the flies.” Soon a pulsing bass line takes over, giving the track a looming intensity. The darkness fueling “Driving” stems from a debilitating accident Leaneagh had last year when she fell off her roof and damaged her spine. Despite the challenges to recover, “Driving” shows Leaneagh expressing her clear resolve to continue “driving” herself onward.
The Isaac Gale-directed video for “Driving” continues to drive home this sense of foreboding, opening with a hypnotic view of a record on a turntable, which later spontaneously combusts. Eventually, the surrounding objects in the room around the turntable—lamps, speakers, tables—become engulfed in flames as well. There’s very little humanity shown in the video, yet when a hand holding a cigarette appears in frame, it becomes clear that someone has been watching the chaos unfold. There are also a few quick flashes of someone dragging their legs through grass, giving imagery to Leaneagh’s lyric, “legs running in the tall tear blades.” She describes this line as an image that would flash in her head while recovering from her fall, saying, “Laying in bed, as I healed, I would dream of running in green grass and tears would pour from my eyes.”
Leaneagh also explains how her fall challenged her personal approach to the album and caused her to reevaluate the story she wanted told:
I felt there were many things I could look at and say, “This happened to me but I’m okay now. It’s not happening anymore and I got the care I needed for it. Now it’s time to rewrite the story I tell about myself and to myself.”
When We Stay Alive is set for release on Jan. 31, 2020, on Memphis Industries and can be preordered here. Poliça kick off their European tour in February and will weave their way into the U.S. in March. You can listen to Driving below, and find their album details and tour dates further down.
When We Stay Alive Album Art:
When We Stay Alive Tracklist:
01. Driving
02. TATA
03. Fold Up
04. Feel Life
05. Little Threads
06. Be Again
07. Steady
08. Forget Me Now
09. Blood Moon
10. Sea Without Blue
Poliça Tour Dates:
October
11 – Chicago, Ill. @ Empty Bottle (SOLD OUT)
12 – Milwaukee, Wis. @ Flannel Fest
November
23 – Eau Claire, Wis. @ Jamf Theater *
26-27 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ 7th St Entry (SOLD OUT)
February 2020
07 – Bristol, U.K. @ Thekla
08 – Manchester, U.K. @ Gorilla
10 – Glasgow, U.K. @ St. Lukes
11 – London, U.K. @ Village Underground
12 – Brighton, U.K. @ Concorde 2
14 – Paris, France @ La Maroquinerie
15 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique/Orangerie
16 – Frankfurt, Germany @ Zoom
18 – Cologne, Germany @ Artheatre
19 – Hamburg, Germany @ Gruenspan
21 – Oslo, Sweden @ John Dee
22 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Slaktkyrkan
24 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Little Vega
25 – Berlin, Germany @ Columbia Theatre
27 – Warsaw, Poland @ Hydrozagadka
28 – Vienna, Austria @ WUK
29 – Munich, Germany @ Hansa 39
March 2020
01 – Milan, Italy @ Santeria
03 – Barcelona, Spain @ La Nau
04 – Madrid, Spain @ Caracol
19 – Madison, Wis. @ High Noon Saloon
20 – Chicago, Ill. @ Thalia Hall
21 – Detroit, Mich. @ Deluxx Fluxx
23 – Toronto, Ont. @ Horseshoe Tavern
24 – Montreal, Que. @ Bar Le Ritz
25 – Boston, Mass. @ Brighton Music Hall
27 – New York City, N.Y. @ Webster Hall
28 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Union Transfer
29 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
31 – Columbus, Ohio @ The Basement
April 2020
01 – St. Louis, Mo. @ Off Broadway
02 – Maquoketa, Iowa @ Codfish Hollow Barn
10 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ First Avenue
16 – Seattle, Wash. @ Neptune Theatre
17 – Vancouver, B.C. @ Venue
18 – Portland, Ore. @ Wonder Ballroom
20 – Sacramento, Calif. @ Harlow’s
21 – San Francisco, Calif. @ The Fillmore
22 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Teragram Ballroom
24 – Phoenix, Ariz. @ Crescent Ballroom
25 – Albuquerque, N.M. @ Sister
27 – Austin, Texas @ Scoot Inn
28 – Dallas, Texas @ Deep Ellum Art Co
29 – Oklahoma City, Okla. @ 89th St
30 – Lawrence, Kan. @ The Bottleneck
May 2020
01 – Omaha, Neb. @ Waiting Room
02 – Des Moines, Iowa @ Vaudeville Mews