C V L T P V R P - POLSKAWAVE

Released: June 16 

On a personal level, POLSKAWAVE presents something emotionally and nostalgically contentious. On the one hand, I’ve never been to Poland and am mostly unfamiliar with modern Polish culture. But on the other hand, there is something that feels quite universal in the message of the album - summer vacations, picnics, living in a time of relative security and calm, taking day trips to places that warm the heart and ease the mind. And it is the latter that really comes through even if one is unfamiliar with the pop culture implications of the music itself. There is a warmth, a vibe, and even a sense of contentment that comes through in each stuttered, warped, and pitch bent piece of audio that transcends cultural differences. 

The album sets the scene early on with the opening track “Polska ‘72,” placing the listener squarely in a time long past - the 1970s. A time in which the threat of nuclear annihilation loomed over the entire world  while conditions for the average person improved regardless. The track evokes the aesthetic of the music of the time while re-contextualizing it in the frame of a current-day remembrance. It comes across as something like a Polish language Steve Miller Band 8-track that is struggling after 50 some-odd years. It feels like sunshine and nostalgia wrapped in a blanket of analog warmth. Later on, “Sunsceen Oil Stains” brings a similar energy but with a seeming hint of the folk roots present in the country and culture. The album concludes with “Falling Asleep with the Windows Down,” evoking that feeling beautifully of heading back home from an exhausting but wonderful day trip to the beach. A beautiful end to an album that masterfully communicates a nostalgic view of a past that many of us never got to experience but all of us actually did.