Poliça – Give You the Ghost

You know when some hip new band hits my radar screen they have some serious hype and a hell of a good PR person.  Granted the fact they were local (Minneapolis) and there was a Gayngs (one of my favorite LPs of 2010) connection hooked me.  I borrowed this release from Pwelbs (by way of the charming JSparks) and was so blown away I went out and bought a vinyl copy at the Electric Fetus.

What I found was some amazing beats with an amazing vocalist who has figured out how to use Auto-Tune as an instrument.  Vocally this the equivalent of a female Bon Iver, but the music is  much more funky, electronica, and hip-hoppy.

At first listen this seems very mellow, but the more you listen to the textures you realize how absolutely rocking this album is.  The drumming is amazing – rock steady one moment and jittery the next.  The overall effect is a laconic hyperactive juxtaposition that is gripping. Channy Leaneagh’s disembodied vocals are the perfect foil to the instrumentation.  On paper these vocals should be detached, but instead they are soulful.  On paper the beats are atmospheric, but instead they are funky.

Poliça pulls off a masterpiece.