POLO recently announced details of their debut EP Alice, set for release on 10th March through AWAL. Today, they share its second single, the slow-building and atmospheric “Soak,” which serves as an introspective look at personal expectation and relationships,
“I lost my phone and decided not to replace it for months, so in terms of internet I was a little disconnected for a while. On train journeys where I’d usually pass the time with aimless internet browsing, I started writing all my thoughts and lyrics into a little note book,” says singer Kat McHugh. “Since then I feel like my lyrics have been more real, as I’ve had time to get my feelings and thoughts onto paper.”
https://soundcloud.com/polomusicuk/3-soak/s-vjLLs
Initially written in their shared flat, with founder member and songwriter Luke Lount crafting the soundscapes and synth motifs that would form the backbone of the EP, Polo (now a three piece after the addition of new member Daniel Edgell) then took Alice to Parr Street Studios and producer Rich Turvey (Blossoms, The Coral) to polish and perfect the details of, as Lount puts it, the EP’s “unfamiliar, exotic” world.
Influenced by the rich production of Anderson.Paak and the vocal stylings of NAO, Erykah Badu and Amy Winehouse (among others), Alice’s four tracks embrace spacious, woozy synth sounds and warm, emotive vocals. Opener “Gold Horizons” is the EP’s most upbeat number, pitting musings about temptation against a simple, sparkling chorus; “Neighbourhood” brings the tone to a darker level, with deep, almost hip hop beats; while “Palat” ends with crystalline, oriental melodies and a cathartic, crescendoing climax.
Written largely about “the female influences in [McHugh’s] life, romantic or motherly, good or bad,” Alice is an EP as rich, complex and rewarding as the relationships it represents. Give Alice the time and there’s a wonderland among Polo’s sonic spell-weaving to be found.
POLO ALICE EP TRACKLISTING
Gold Horizons
Neighbourhood
Soak
Palat
POLO LIVE
22 February – Newcastle, Think Tank
24 February – London, The Garage
26 February – Leeds, The Lending Room
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