The Brooklyn-based duo ... continue to make experimental-leaning synth-pop that serves as a showcase for Polachek’s lithe and operatic pipes—one of the most unique in pop today.
Moth is a breezy, immensely enjoyable pop record that provides just the amount of pep that you’ll need to make it through the winter. It makes a very upbeat soundtrack to cleaning the snow off your car.
The most impressive thing about Moth is the way it manages to wrap a more compact frame around Chairlift’s spiraling colors without dulling the final product.
The result of Chairlift dabbling in the mainstream pop archetype is the duo’s best and most cohesive album to date.
As a collection Moth is both fascinating and fun, demonstrative of what can be achieved when you focus on substance over style.
With Moths, Chairlift make a strong claim to being one of pop music's best songwriting teams, with the production and vocal chops to bring their compositions fully and vibrantly to life.
Moth takes a formula that Chairlift have been working on since their 2008 debut and manages to perfect it: a pop album that challenges at some corners and delivers pure satisfaction at others.
The songs on Moth feel related and extroverted, pulled together by a common purpose. They have a charming asymmetry, they drift in sometimes oblique and irregular patterns. This is pop that wants to show you what it’s made of.
While Chairlift refine their approach on Moth, they don’t veer wildly from what listeners have come to expect.
Far from merely repeating a formula, Moth, their ‘New York record’, sounds like they’re determined to make ‘easy’ surprising again.
Polachek and Wimberly seem to relish their good luck, layering hooks and beats with a kooky exuberance that was missing last time out.
Paring down the lineup and exploring the greater pop world have led the duo towards the more straightforward presentation of Moth, and for the better.
When Chairlift do experiment ... the pacing feels uneven. Like many pop acts' full-lengths, this is an album of singles.
The album is polished, poppy fun. Polachek and Patrick Wimberly have fallen into step in the wake of founding member Aaron Pfenning, and any songwriting kinks still present on Something have largely been ironed out on Moth.
On Moth, Chairlift for the most part lack the swaggering confidence of contemporaries like Santigold, or the idiosyncratic yet accessible song writing of Dirty Projectors. It’s by no means a bad album, but at this stage Chairlift are strictly second division.
For me, a whimsical introduction to the world of Caroline Polachek. Her unique and striking vocal presence is as pronounced on here as it is on her solo work, and that often leads to some fantastic pop tracks - namely "Polymorphing," "Ch-Ching," "Moth to the Flame," and "Show U Off." They don't have as much of the artistic flair that her more recent solo work has, but they still satisfy that itch for slightly off-center pop music. Those tracks best ... read more
This is what music sounds like when you stop caring what other people think. And it turns out good.
Moth is spontaneous, mysterious, amusing and absolutely unconventional. In my personal opinion, I think that the duo (comprised of half Caroline Polachek?!?!!?!!) took a number of chances, and as a result, they created this creative work of Art-Pop. Very unpredictable between songs to seconds, this album is ridiculously fun and will keep you guessing.
Chairlift's final project is a lot more lighthearted then what was going on behind the scenes with Caroline Polachek and Patrick Wimberly, but laid the groundwork to launch Caroline her very own elaborate career of her own. It is a nice blend of so many different hints of sounds ranging from breakbeat on Romeo to a more dance sound on Moth to the Flame. If you like Caroline's solo work you will 110% find something to enjoy here, while I don't think this is as strong as the solo work it is ... read more
This is what music sounds like when you stop caring what other people think. And it turns out good.
Moth is spontaneous, mysterious, amusing and absolutely unconventional. In my personal opinion, I think that the duo (comprised of half Caroline Polachek?!?!!?!!) took a number of chances, and as a result, they created this creative work of Art-Pop. Very unpredictable between songs to seconds, this album is ridiculously fun and will keep you guessing.
1 | Look Up 2:14 | 81 |
2 | Polymorphing 4:43 | 90 |
3 | Romeo 3:08 | 88 |
4 | Ch-Ching 3:47 | 86 |
5 | Crying in Public 4:28 | 90 |
6 | Ottawa to Osaka 4:55 | 82 |
7 | Moth to the Flame 2:57 | 91 |
8 | Show U Off 3:32 | 90 |
9 | Unfinished Business 4:33 | 81 |
10 | No Such Thing as Illusion 6:26 | 74 |
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