Caroline Polachek returns with glitchy, glistening new single On The Beach

Caroline Polachek has always floated in her own space — somewhere between the club, the cosmos, and a cathedral. Now, she’s vaulted into a dystopian future created by a world-famous video game designer (really) called Hideo Kojima, with the new single On The Beach. The track is the lead moosic from Kojima’s apparently much awaited new video game Death Stranding 2: On The Beach. We at the Beats Club do not care much for video games, choosing instead to entrap our childhoods via passively mocking the passions of others while tending daily to our hilariously middle-aged tamagotchis, but we hear the video game is deeply strange and strangely deep. Polachek’s track follows suit.

The track is, unsurprisingly, Polachek’s first ever foray into the world of video game soundtracks, after Kojima picked up the blower to Polachek personally with a post-#metoo-adherent proposition following Kojima’s discovery of old Caz’s music and, in turn, Kojima meeting Polachek in Paris. Apparently, the perks of being famous remain no matter how leftfield the platform on which  your fame is built.

Co-produced with Danny L Harle, On The Beach is all metallic shimmer and tectonic low-end, with Polachek unmistakable vocals soaring above a glitchy wreckage like a warning siren… or, perhaps, a lullaby, depending on which type of hangover you’re currently combating. There’s a pulse of dread, an undertone of decay, and a whole load of post-apocalyptic synthy stuff going on.

Is Polachek taking the piss? Quite possibly. On The Beach was supposedly one of the first tracks she ever made with long-time collaborator Danny L Harle, but the track was always deemed too dark for release. The backstory makes the collaboration seem like an easy pay cheque. Alas, those familiar with Polachek’s work will know otherwise.

Those familiar with Polachek’s work will also want to hear the track, of course. So what you waiting for? Brace yourself, give it a click, and try to remember the world is actually alright, ennit?