Poliça return with their new album When We Stay Alive, which is set for release January 31st via Memphis Industries. Today the band are sharing the first single & video from the album, “Driving“.
With a video directed by Isaac Gale, Poliça’s Channy Leaneagh explains the meaning behind the first single “Driving” as she says “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”.
Watch below the video for the new single.
Over the last several years Poliça co-founder and producer Ryan 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 his studio for all-night sessions. He’d then send Leaneagh the files to write lyrics to while recovering at home, which she’d record alone or with engineer Alex Proctor. Drummers Drew Christopherson and Ben Ivascu “colored the songs with a new approach” and bassist Chris Bierden provided “a melody-laden low-end as well as more layered backing vocals than ever before”.
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 track list and artwork:
1. Driving
2. TATA
3. Fold Up
4. Feel Life
5. Little Threads
6. Be Again
7. Steady
8. Forget Me Not
9. Blood Moon
10. Sea Without Blue
See Poliça live:
11/10 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
12/10 – Milwaukee, WI – Flannel Fest
23/11 – Eau Claire, WI – Jampf Theater
26/11-27/11 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th St Entry
7/2 – Bristol, UK – Thekla
8/2 – Manchester, UK – Gorilla
10/2 – Glasgow, UK – St. Lukes
11/2 – London, UK – Village Underground
12/2 – Brighton, UK – Concorde 2
14/2 – Paris, France – La Maroquinerie
15/2 – Brussels, Belgium – Botanique/Orangerie
16/2 – Frankfurt, Germany – Zoom
18/2 – Cologne, Germany – Artheatre
19/2 – Hamburg, Germany – Gruenspan
21/2 – Oslo, Sweden – John Dee
22/2 – Stockholm, Sweden – Slaktkyrkan
24/2 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Little Vega
25/2 – Berlin, Germany – Columbia Theatre
27/2 – Warsaw, Poland – Hydrozagadka
28/2 – Vienna, Austria – WUK
29/2 – Munich, Germany – Hansa 39
1/3 – Milan, Italy – Santeria
3/3 – Barcelona, Spain – La Nau
4/3 – Madrid, Spain – Caracol
19/3 – Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
20/3 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
21/3 – Detroit, MI – Deluxx Fluxx
23/3 – Toronto, OH – Horeshoe Tavern
24/3 – Montreal, QB – Bar Le Ritz
25/3 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
27/3 – New York City, NY – Webster Hall
28/3 – Philadephia, PA – Union Transfer
29/3 – Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club
31/3 – Columbus, OH – The Basement
1/4 – St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway
2/4 – Maquoketa, IA – Codfish Hollow Barn
10/4 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
16/4 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
17/4 – Vancouver, BC – Venue
18/4 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
20/4 – Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s
21/4 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
22/4 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom
24/4 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
25/4 – Albuquerque, NM – Sister
27/4 – Austin, TX – Scoot Inn
28/4 – Dallas, TX – Deep Ellum Art Co
29/4 – Oklahoma City, OK – 89th St
30/4 – Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck
1/5 – Omaha, NE – Waiting Room
2/5 – Des Moines, IA – Vaudeville Mews
(Tickets on sale on Friday 11th October)