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Reviews

Polly Fae — Metamorphosis
(Projekt no#, 2020, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2020-07-22

Metamorphosis Cover art

It’s been less than a year since I reviewed Polly Fae’s previous release, Dreamwalkers, a dreamy, ambient, and somewhat avant-garde slab of sound that straddled shoegaze and dreamy-non-pop with Polly creating all the instrumentation and vocals through multi-tracking, the result being an absolutely stunning collection of songs of sheer beauty that I have been going back to over and over in the months since. Metamorphosis, her latest, is in many ways the same and in just as many ways different. Created using the same methods and instrumentation, it’s far more explorative, introspective, and intensely personal, dealing more in darker shades of emotion that come through in both the lyrics and the music. The album emerged over the early months of the 2020 global pandemic, the songs coming from a different place, more isolated and unsettled, yet nonetheless filled with transformation and hope. The opener, “Not Dead,” is built on electronic sounds pulsing over smoky atmospherics and textures, with the lyrics more or less whispered at first, becoming more clear as the piece proceeds. “Chrysalis” creates a shimmering backdrop over deep bass pulses that support almost frightening imagery convered effectively by the vocals and occasional swaths of electronic sounds. “Unravel,” with its most mysterious lyrics seems like a dark observation from deep within, featuring sparse but interesting and hypnotic instrumental accompaniment across its four-minute duration. For much of the album, the colorful melodic aspects of the previous album seem to have faded and blended with shades of gray along with an emotional upheaval. As with all of her previous releases, she created the cover artwork that fittingly matches its contents. For the time being this (as well as all of Polly’s previous releases) are only available as downloads, though at the link below one can sample every track on this album and its predecessor, and I strongly recommend doing so.

Filed under: New releases, 2020 releases

Related artist(s): Polly Fae / Paulina Cassidy

More info
http://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/metamorphosis-name-your-price

 

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