Ramona Lisa
“Dominic”
Arcadia (out now on Terrible)
Caroline Polachek’s daring solo LP is one of the most underrated of discs of the year. Crafted entirely on a laptop, the Chairlift frontwoman weaves her mellifluous, athletic vocals over swirling collages of MIDI synths and drum loops, creating a compelling clash between the natural and the digital. The disc’s third single — the gorgeous break-up ballad, “Dominic” — gets a similarly handsome treatment, as the Brooklyn resident rows a lonely boat through what looks like the Louisiana swamps. It may seem a strange setting for her pristine, pastoral sound, but as someone who has spent time in those very swamps, I can say that the isolated environment makes a lot of sense for a rumination on the “perfect disaster” that is falling in love.
