Polly Scattergood
Arrows

As a great music enthusiast, particularly pop, discovering and highlighting emerging talents is almost a "duty" for me; exclusively basking in the glories of the past is useless, in the long run, it leads to nothing but stagnation and superficial elitism. I have also gone through this phase, but fortunately, I have overcome it by maturing, and the path I've decided to take is much more stimulating and also more challenging than it might seem. Pop is everywhere, someone might think, and it's precisely for this reason that a certain amount of dedication is needed to find valid novelties; new characters continuously emerge, but I'm not looking for characters, I'm looking for people with something beautiful to offer. And even among the "second lines," one has to dig through thick layers of boredom, hipsterism, and presumption; almost everything is labeled as "indie," and here I take the opportunity to express a heartfelt wish of chronic hemorrhoids to anyone who sticks this silly and pseudo-elitist label on anything that doesn't sell tens of millions of copies; go to hell, from the bottom of my heart. In short, to find new and valuable artists, one especially needs an independent mindset in the true sense of the word, which is, as much as possible, free from influences and prejudices that aren't one's own, and a bit of egocentrism can't help but be a nice added value. Everything else comes down to luck and trust, the mistakes inevitably made following this method of research are simply eradicated based on one's own feelings, without trying to "make oneself like" anything. Nothing simpler, and I've already highlighted many young (or simply overlooked) worthy artists, people not quite in line with the "mainstream moods" of the site but so be it, variety is richness after all.

That said, I apologize to Polly Scattergood for not starting by talking about her: "Music doesn't have to be strident to carry a strong message" and "You don't have to shout, you can say things and people will listen if they want to". These are her words, words that I endorse in every syllable, concepts that are also mine and that I would like to explore in all possible nuances, but I don't want to steal more space from her by talking about myself and my ideas. Polly Scattergood is English, born in 1986, has a couple of albums under her belt, and records for Mute Records, a label with a glorious tradition in the electronic/synth-pop field; she and Little Boots are somewhat the equivalent of Callas and Tebaldi (and don't ask me which is which, I have no idea) in the small world of new UK electro-pop, two artists who, in theory, could foster a frivolous rivalry style Beatles-Rolling Stones, Oasis-Blur, and the like, in reality, they are perfectly complementary, two fresh and clean faces of the same coin. They are both English, blonde, belonging to the same generation, debuted in 2009, the genre proposed is the same, they also have a similar vocal style, what differentiates them is mainly the approach. Victoria is more extroverted, creates characters, and brings them to the stage, while Polly is more emotional, introspective, her lyrics are very well-crafted, certainly more than the genre's average, and they represent a fundamental aspect of her personality; the two above-mentioned quotes are not empty proclamations but guidelines that define and ennoble her music.

Excellent songwriting, but that doesn't mean the musical aspect is neglected; on the contrary, I am particularly thinking of "Falling", a splendid archetype of what today's dance should be: powerful and "organic" beats, a soft voice, clear techno-trance influences that define an imaginative and sparkling sound; this piece has it all, the power, the momentum, the elegance, it's a fluid and perfect combination, neither forced nor lightweight, simply something that falls within the best the genre can offer. A piece like this can't help but stand out, yet "Arrows" is a solid and complete album, ideal tracklist (10 songs), which means absolute fluidity and the absence of superfluous material, so the "peak" integrates perfectly, without overly polarizing attention to the detriment of all the rest. "Cocoon" is a beautiful and also original opener, a beautiful upward progression with a slightly visionary touch that highlights Polly's warm and subtle vocal quality, as expressive and theatrical as needed, followed by other examples of "compassionate disco" like the intriguing "Wanderlust" and "Subsequently Lost", agile and lively, barely veiled with a touch of melancholy; both delightful, as is the refined midtempo "Silver Lining", with a well-paced and very characterful progression fading into an evocative final dissolution.

And then there are four ballads lined up one after the other, forming a central core: a potentially risky choice but one that Polly has managed very well, succeeding in creating a varied and interesting sequence, completely devoid of annoying stasis: there's the emotional crescendo of the splendid "Machines", the more classic and piano-driven sweetness of "Miss You", heart-wrenching and sappy but with style and depth, then the anthemic "Disco Damaged Kids" and "Colours Colling", a slow vortex of sounds and emotions, pure and simple synth art. Many different shades for a beautiful album, the manifesto of a sensitive girl who does not give in to the ugliness, pettiness, and mediocrity of the world, no, Polly Scattergood is light, positivity, empathy; according to her statements, she listened to Leonard Cohen as a girl (along with Erasure and Yazoo, something we have in common), and it shows, she has internalized it very well. Internalized, mind you, not slavishly imitated, this is probably also why her songwriting is so mature and communicative, just a quick glance at the lyrics of "Cocoon" (a true poem) rather than "Machines," "Subsequently Lost" or "Wanderlust" is enough to realize it. In short, I am sincerely impressed, besides with Little Boots this album presents strong affinities with the solo works of two authentic icons such as Sarah Cracknell and Geike Arnaert (blonde too, by the way), and her lyrics are almost on par with Patrick Wolf's for elegance and ability to evoke powerful and immediate images. Refinement and attention to detail, great songs but above all a beautiful sense of humility and sincerity, there is no trace of conceit and useless sophistication in "Arrows," and ultimately, this is the main characteristic of the album, from which, consequently, all the others arise. Keep it up Polly, sweet and spontaneous as you are, and thank you again.