Caroline Polachek releases new song ‘Blood and Butter’
American progressive pop star Caroline Polachek is just two weeks away from releasing her latest album, Desire, I Want to Turn Into You. We’ve already heard four different previews of the album with Polachek’s four most recent singles, and now we’re getting a fifth in ‘Blood and Butter’.
To be quite honest, I am not a fan of the way most musicians preview their albums these days. Is it a good thing that we’ve already heard half of Desire, I Want to Turn Into You before it has even come out? I would argue no. Maybe there’s some old-fashioned notion kicking around my brain about being surprised by new music. Who knows, but it irks me.
With that being said, I’m glad we can all experience ‘Blood and Butter’ right now because this song rules. Nearly five minutes of hazy atmosphere and off-kilter instrumental choices, ‘Blood and Butter’ is also the most straightforward pop song that Polachek has released so far in the promotional cycle for Desire. Some might think that would make it basic, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Tell me, what was the last song you heard that had tabla, acoustic guitar, and a bagpipe coda all within five minutes? Did you want to sing along with that song? Did that song get stuck in your head? Because ‘Blood and Butter’ has all of its experimental qualities, but none of them overshadows the simplicity at the heart of ‘Blood and Butter’.
So now we’re in the endgame: exactly two weeks until the release of Desire. Will we get another single? I hope not because, at that point, literally half of the album would be available before the actual album. There are so many songs currently available that Spotify lists the ‘Blood and Butter’ single as an EP. Polachek has released a full EP worth of music before her actual album.
Again, this probably filters into some old-fashioned notion that albums should be preserved and come across as one distinct artistic statement. Yada yada yada; whatever. That’s not the way anybody really listens to albums anymore, so I need to stop getting so caught up in it. Besides, do I really want less Caroline Polachek music in my life right now? I don’t think so.
Check out ‘Blood and Butter’ down below. Desire, I Want to Turn Into You is set for a February 14th release.
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