When Poliça’s Channy Leaneagh fell off her roof while clearing ice in early 2018, she smashed her L1 vertebrae and battered her spine, leaving her in a brace with limited mobility for months. Yet Poliça’s fourth album, When We Stay Alive , is not about one debilitating accident. It’s a bout the redemptive power of rewriting your story in order to heal, and reclaiming your identity as a result.
Listen to new single 'Driving' here:
While recovering, Leaneagh’s doctor told her to focus not only on physical healing, but to meditate on the mental act of healing as well – workin g to erase the anger, regrets, and fear she felt about her fall. To do so, he suggested she rewrite the story she told herself about what happened on February 28th. Left alone with her thoughts and her back fully braced, Leaneagh would visualize herself sl ipping and falling not onto cement, but instead onto a cloud, landing safely before breaking into a sprint over snow melting to reveal tall blades of green grass. As she felt the positive effects of this mental exercise, she set about doing the same for ot her injuries and pains that she gripped onto from her past.
On brooding opener and first single Driving, one of the songs written postaccident, Ryan Olson’s beats run like white lines over asphalt.Here’s Channy describing 'Driving‘s origins:
“Laying in bed, as I healed from a 10 foot fall of carelessness with my life, I would dream of running in green grass and tears would pour from my eyes. “Running in the tall tear grass; imagine wanting life and the want remains.” That is a feeling to hold onto; that life is worth living even when all the towers are crumbling and this goes beyond my own little accident but the world around me. Following the crone into the sinking ship and having the chance to return without a shadow. Drive on, Drive on. A second chance you won’t forget”
When We Stay Alive possesses a new confidence in its sound, reflected in its fierce, determined songs and anchored by the heavy synths and punctuating beats of Poliça co-founder and producer Ryan Olson. Over the last several years Olson and Leaneagh have widely collaborated with musicians from all over the world: both with Bon Iver, and Leaneagh individually with Boys Noize, Lane 8,Sasha, Leftfield, and Daniel Wohl; Olson with Swamp Dogg in addition to countless musicians from the 37d03d collective. As a result, When We Stay Alive features one of the largest musical casts of any Poliça record to date. To create the album, Olson brought his favorite collaborators into hisstudio for all-night sessions. He’d then send Leaneagh the files to write lyrics to while recovering athome, which she’d record alone or with engineer Alex Proctor. Drummers Drew Christopherson and Ben Ivascu colored the songs with a new approach–drastically changing the rhythmic dynamic from previous efforts by creating an indistinguishable hybrid of live and electronic instrumentation--and bassist Chris Bierden provided a melody-laden low-end as well as more layered backing vocals than ever before.
On Poliça’s first three albums, Leaneagh focused on restructuring the world and her relationships within it. On When We Stay Alive, she realizes the power in restructuring her inner self. The album’s title references the idea of moving forward through life – our experiences, both good and bad – and what happens next with the strength we find. “I had been living unconsciously in past trauma,” Leaneagh says. “I don’t want to deny something happened – this is not about repression – it’s about taking the power back from the past, holding the power in the present, and creating a new story for myself.”
When We Stay Alive tracklisting:
When We Stay Alive is available to pre-order on crystal clear gatefold vinyl plus a super limited numbered, screen printed version, along with CD and digital. Go here for all your pre-ordering options.
Poliça have announced a raft of North American and European shows for 2020. Full list of dates below:
07 February - Bristol, UK - Thekla
08 February - Manchester, UK - Gorilla
10 February - Glasgow, UK - St. Luke’s
11 February - London, UK - Village Underground
12 February - Brighton, UK - Concorde 2
14 February - Paris, France - La Maroquinerie
15 February - Brussels, Belgium - Botanique/Orangerie
16 February - Frankfurt, Germany - Zoom
18 February - Cologne, Germany - Artheatre
19 February - Hamburg, Germany - Gruenspan
21 February - Oslo, Sweden - John Dee
22 February - Stockholm, Sweden - Slaktkyrkan
24 February - Copenhagen, Denmark - Little Vega
25 February - Berlin, Germany - Columbia Theatre
27 February - Warsaw, Poland - Hydrozagadka
28 February - Vienna, Austria - WUK
29 February - Munich, Germany - Hansa 39
01 March - Milan, Italy - Santeria
03 March - Barcelona, Spain - La Nau
04 March - Madrid, Spain - Caracol
19 March - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
20 March - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
21 March - Detroit, MI - Deluxx Fluxx
23 March - Toronto, OH - Horseshoe Tavern
24 March - Montreal, QB - Bar Le Ritz
25 March - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
27 March - NYC - Webster Hall
28 March - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
29 March - Washington, D.C. - 9:30 Club
31 March - Columbus, OH - The Basement
01 April - St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway
02 April - Maquoketa, IA - Codfish Hollow Barn
10 April - First Avenue release show
16 April - Seattle, WA - Neptune Theatre
17 April - Vancouver, BC - Venue
18 April - Portand, OR - Wonder Ballroom
20 April - Sacramento, CA - Harlow’s
21 April - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
22 April - LA, CA - Teragram Ballroom
24 April - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom
25 April - Albuquerque, NM - Sister
27 April - Austin, TX - Scoot Inn
28 April - Dallas, TX - Deep Ellum Art Co
29 April - Oklahoma City, OK - 89th St
30 April - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
01 May - Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
02 May- Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews
