Poliça + s t a r g a z e - Music for the Long Emergency

The Quietus

Right from the title, Music For The Long Emergency sounds like a fitting score for the Trump age. “How is this happening?” goes the penultimate track, written in the days following Trump’s election. This collaborative project between Minneapolis synth pop group Poliça and Berlin-based orchestra s t a r g a z e is a joining of forces against the fear and despondency of the past two years in the US and Europe: “We had our hands on progress,” as they put it. “And then it flipped.”

Opener ‘Fake Like’ is a dose of sugary bouncing art-pop glossed with cherubic strings and Channy Leaneagh’s sweet vocals. But from the almost-optimism of that track, we are hurled into a spiral of unease. The string arrangements on ‘Marrow’ are theatrically chilling, injecting urgency into the record’s bones; it puts s t a r g a z e at the forefront of the record. The orchestra have collaborated with Poliça in the past, on a reinterpretation of Steve Reich’s ‘Music For Pieces Of Wood’, and is led by Andre De Ridder, who’s previously worked with artists as disparate as Julia Holter, Gorillaz, Max Richter and These New Puritans. (The darkest moments here are not dissimilar to parts of TNP’s 2013 record Field Of Reeds.) The collaboration works wonders for both artists, as the textural beauty of Poliça is expanded with the added depth that s t a r g a z e bring.

The record continually evolves, perhaps a consequence of the organic improvisation; the sporadic detours of strings and horns function that function as the record’s consciousness giving it a constant unpredictability, something absent from much of Poliça’s back catalogue. Winding instrumental parts, to an extent improvised, make sure that this record is as stark as it is soothing.

While a record could never be the answer to Trump, Music For The Long Emergency does a good job of sonically deconstructing Trump-turmoil. It’s about “the truly healing effects of making music with your friends," as Leaneagh puts it. “And while it doesn’t necessarily make things better, it builds community.”

Poliça and s t a r g a z e play the Oval Space in London on 27 February.

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Drowned In Sound 70

Like a proper vinyl artifact, Music for the Long Emergency has two distinct sides: the snappy 'pop' side, and the stretched-out “experimental” side. Channy Leaneagh, the coy chameleon that fronts POLIÇA, insists that neither side intended to bank on their own comfort zone; yet the first act of the album does, in fact, read mostly like 'Poliça songs with s t a r g a z e pasted on top', to quote Leaneagh. Even with the unnerving horn flares and violin trip wires, the (literally) close-to-the-bone paranoia of ‘Marrow’ would’ve slotted in nicely with 2016’s United Crushers. That’s not necessarily an insult, though. ‘Speaking of Ghost’ also carries on in the Poliça tradition of barbed and woozy pop, but the woodwind assist lends a wooly warmth that cushions the contortions without muffling the enigma.

At any rate, the intended coziness doesn’t always come through. ‘Fake Like’ opens the album with a saccharine sucker punch of a slow jam, with such predictably delicate petals from the string section that the song’s rosy haven hardly feels genuine. There’s nowhere to even sit in ‘Cursed’, with its drum and bass hustle barreling through s t a r g a z e with unabashed menace. Both cuts draw listeners out of the surreal experience that the artists aimed to create, as the excess efforts to woo and distress stand out all too plainly.

No, the real fruits of Poliça and s t a r g a z e’s union shines in the second half, where the latter can finally unwind. ‘How Is This Happening’ testifies to the chamber ensemble’s rich history as stewards to the avant-garde; the depth in their gentle drift confirms that this retreat offers a more otherworldly comfort than the usual getaway. Polymorphic composers like Nils Frahm and Mica Levi have called on s t a r g a z e before for exactly this sort of eternity, and Leaneagh’s yearning croon here unfurls sweetly into the void. The title track turns into more structured territory, almost the tepid dinner party that often happens when pop artists mingle with orchestras – but the static decay that creeps into Leaneagh’s vocal at the end reminds us yet again what wariness we’ve overcome to reach this point.

Well – OK, that’s a rather lazy 'we' on my part. But whatever looming shadow might darken your homeland, Music for the Long Emergency offers a substantive retreat, with enough room for minds to rest and wander in peace. Some chambers might reek with lucrative perfume, but others extend like corridors into the proper oblivion that s t a r g a z e excel in, leading Poliça to hit a surprisingly blissful high. At the very least, this project cements a partnership between two wildly divergent collectives, across two continents – and in today’s divisive atmosphere, that’s a relief in and of itself.

Pitchfork 52

The Minneapolis synth-pop band teams up with a Berlin-based orchestra in an attempt to reckon with the trials of our time.