The greatest songs of the 21st century, according to Caroline Polachek
If we’re going to be honest, New York synthpop duo Chairlift never quite got the recognition they deserved. From 2008 to 2016, they released three stunningly good albums that weren’t celebrated anywhere near enough for how they managed to present their modernist take on the genre, and after the release of Moth, Caroline Polachek and Patrick Wimberly went their own separate ways.
Both members were given their dues to a degree for their approaches to songwriting and production respectively, and it was hardly surprising to see them both choose to focus on their respective talents in the following years. Wimberly has gone on to work with a diverse range of artists such as Beyoncé, MGMT and Lil Yachty as a producer, but while he’s remained somewhat in the background, Polachek’s career as a solo artist has gone from strength to strength.
Her first album under her own name, 2019’s Pang, included the release of her breakout hit, ‘So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings’, and finally a wider audience began to pay attention to her gorgeously-crafted melodies and adventurous approach to writing pop songs. The global lockdown slowed her progress a little after this, but she’d come back fighting after the world resumed with its activities again.
Her second and most recent album, 2023’s Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, took every one of Pang’s strengths and elevated them to the next level, which saw Polachek rise to a level of stardom that she had always been capable of achieving, but never been fortunate enough to receive. Collaborations with artists such as Charli XCX and Blood Orange would also assist her ascent, and it’s a solid indicator of her talents that she is so regularly sought after to work alongside other big names.
While I mentioned that her work with Chairlift felt modern, her solo work has arguably seen her both continue in that vein and even look towards establishing a futuristic style, one that feels almost destined to continue growing due to her artistic ambition. Given that, it’s no wonder that her biggest contemporary influences all adhere to a strict process of only releasing the most innovative work.
In an interview with audio company Marantz, she picked out a selection of her favourite songs of all-time, and while there are some retro classics in the mix, it’s her more recent selections that reveal more about the direction of her artistry. Picking out some of her collaborators such as Oneohtrix Point Never and AG Cook, as well as These New Puritans who she has worked alongside since conducting the interview, her choices represent a broad range of styles from experimental electronic, hyperpop, gloomy post-rock and beyond.
There are also nods to some more underground acts such as indie pop artist Zsela and leftfield producer Reckonwrong, as well as some modern R&B pioneers like Serpentwithfeet and Moses Sumney. This array of picks only goes to highlight just how much of a focus Polachek has on her contemporaries, and how she uses their innovations to inspire her own work and distort all of these disparate styles into her own mutated pop music.
Caroline Polachek’s favourite songs of the 21st century
- Serpentwithfeet – ‘Hyacinth
- Oneohtrix Point Never – ‘Chrome Country’
- Zsela – ‘Earlier Days’
- Above & Beyond ft Zoë Johnston – ‘Good For Me’
- Moses Sumney – ‘Two Dogs’
- AG Cook – ‘Soft Landing’
- Reckonwrong – ‘Paris is Melting’
- These New Puritans – ‘Beyond Black Suns’
