Shulamith (album)

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Shulamith
Studio album by
Poliça
ReleasedOctober 18, 2013 (2013-10-18)
GenreSynth-pop, indietronica
Length50:54
LabelMom + Pop
ProducerRyan Olson, Poliça
Poliça chronology
Give You the Ghost
(2012) 		Shulamith
(2013) 		United Crushers
(2016)
Deluxe edition cover
Singles from Shulamith
  1. "Tiff"
    Released: April 15, 2013
  2. "Chain My Name[1]"
    Released: October 18, 2013 (Australia)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic73/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Drowned in Sound7/10[4]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[5]
The Guardian[6]
NME7/10[7]
Pitchfork7.5/10[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Slant Magazine[10]

Shulamith is the second studio album by American indie pop band Poliça, released on October 18, 2013 by Mom + Pop Music.

Background and development[edit]

The album title refers to the radical feminist Shulamith Firestone whose book The Dialectic of Sex was the main inspiration to singer and lyricist Channy Leaneagh after the recording of the album.[11] Describing Firestone as "This woman to me is like my pop star. I want to try and be more like her," Leaneagh insisted that the name wasn't chosen "because I wanted to make a statement about feminism."[11] At the same time, themes explored in the album dovetail with feminist concerns such as the conflict of desire and frustration that attend living up to cultural ideals as well as the pitfalls of materialism and perfectionism.[12]

"Tiff" was released as the album's lead single on April 15, 2013.[13] An expanded/deluxe edition of the album was released on 10 June 2014. The edition contained four new tracks by the band; include "Raw Exit", which the band demoed a little after the release of their debut, Give You the Ghost.[14] The track was never officially released but the band played at concerts. These four tracks were also made available in the form of Raw Exit EP, Leaneagh stated in their blog: "'Raw Exit' still sounds like Poliça but goes to a different place topically than the rest of Shulamith—it's about wanting someone, which is rare in our songs."[15] The EP was also released as a 10" vinyl record.[16]

Album cover[edit]

The cover of the album features a bust-length view of a young Caucasian woman against a royal blue background and turned away from the spectator at a 45 degree angle. Her long brown hair appears wet and is wrapped around the left side of her neck to expose the right side that is stained with a deep red liquid. The red substance stains her right ear and hairline as well as parts of her upper back. The ambiguity of the image - is it blood or hair dye? - played a role in its censorship on iTunes, among other music retailers. When asked about the censorship, Leneagh replied in this way:

"It's a very violent society that we live in, so I was confused when the image on our cover was censored. You look on iTunes and there's some really violent-sounding music. My music isn't really that, I don't have anything specifically violent about my music. That cover was exploring the life of a woman that's a mix of blood and beauty and the brutal existence of a woman. A lot of the covers on iTunes are just a face of the singer. Not like everybody has to have a message on their record cover, but it just infuriates me that iTunes is dumbing down the opportunity for musicians to have a voice."[17]

Track listing[edit]

All lyrics are written by Channy Leaneagh; all music is composed by Ryan Olson

Shulamith track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Chain My Name"4:07
2."Smug"3:59
3."Vegas"4:11
4."Warrior Lord"4:30
5."Very Cruel"4:45
6."Torre"4:27
7."Trippin"4:15
8."Tiff" (featuring Justin Vernon)4:26
9."Spilling Lines"3:02
10."Matty"4:58
11."I Need $"4:38
12."So Leave"3:36
Total length:55:35
Shulamith expanded edition[18]
No.TitleLength
13."Raw Exit"4:15
14."Baby Blue"3:30
15."Great Regret"2:18
16."You Don't Own Me"3:16
Total length:61:35

Personnel[edit]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Shulamith.[19]

Poliça

  • Poliça – production
  • Channy Leaneagh – vocals
  • Chris Bierden – bass, harmony vocals
  • Drew Christopherson – drums
  • Ben Ivascu – drums
  • Ryan Olson – beats programming, production, synth

Additional personnel

  • BJ Burton – engineering, mixing
  • Isaac Gale – back photography, cover
  • Michael Gaughan – watercolor painting
  • Andrea Hyde – design
  • Huntley Miller – mastering

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for Shulamith
Chart (2013) Peak
position
Australian Hitseekers Albums Chart[20] 10
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[21] 47
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[22] 69
French Albums Chart[23] 141
Irish Albums Chart[24] 93
Irish Independent Albums Chart[25] 14
Swiss Albums Chart[26] 85
UK Albums Chart[27] 33
UK Indie Albums Chart[28] 4
US Heatseekers Albums[29] 1

Release history[edit]

Release history and formats for Shulamith
Region Date Format Label
Australia[30] October 18, 2013 CD, LP, digital download Pod
Germany[31] CD, LP Memphis Industries
October 20, 2013 Digital download
France[32] October 21, 2013 CD, LP, digital download
United Kingdom[33]
United States[34] October 22, 2013 Mom + Pop Music

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Poliça "Chain My Name"". Pitchfork. August 22, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  2. ^ "Shulamith – Poliça". Metacritic. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  3. ^ Phares, Heather. "Shulamith – Poliça". AllMusic. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  4. ^ Warfield, Russell (October 17, 2013). "Poliça – Shulamith". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  5. ^ Rahman, Ray (October 22, 2013). "New Releases Roundup: Read EW's reviews of Katy Perry, Arcade Fire, and more". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  6. ^ Gibsone, Harriet (October 17, 2013). "Poliça: Shulamith – review". The Guardian. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  7. ^ Cottingham, Chris (October 18, 2013). "Poliça – 'Shulamith'". NME. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  8. ^ St. Asaph, Katherine (November 13, 2013). "Poliça: Shulamith". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  9. ^ Gross, Joe (November 18, 2013). "Polica 'Shulamith' Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  10. ^ Liedel, Kevin (October 17, 2013). "Poliça: Shulamith". Slant Magazine. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  11. ^ a b Roper, Tamara. ""The Unlikely Front Woman: We Meet Channy Leneagh from Poliça"". noisey. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  12. ^ Swensson, Andrea. ""First Listen: Poliça 'Shulamith'"". npr.org. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  13. ^ "Tiff (feat. Justin Vernon) – Single by POLIÇA". iTunes Store US. Apple. 15 April 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  14. ^ "Poliça - Raw Exit EP". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  15. ^ [1] Archived 2014-08-12 at the Wayback Machine 'Poliça: Raw Exit EP', In Your Speakers, June 9, 2014.
  16. ^ "Poliça announce Raw Exit EP on 10" – hear the title track". FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  17. ^ Fischer, Reed. ""Poliça's Channy Leneagh: you can't ignore north minneapolis forever"". City Pages. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  18. ^ "In Rolling Waves (Deluxe)". itunes.apple.com. 9 June 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  19. ^ Shulamith (CD liner notes). Poliça. Mom + Pop Music. 2013. MP119-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ "ARIA Hitseekers – Week Commencing 28th October 2013" (PDF). ARIA Charts. Australian Web Archive. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-23. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  21. ^ "Poliça – Shulamith" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  22. ^ "Poliça – Shulamith" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  23. ^ "Poliça – Shulamith" (in French). lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  24. ^ "Top 100 Artist Album, Week Ending 24 October 2013". Chart-Track. Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  25. ^ "Top 20 Indie Individual Artist Albums". Irish Recorded Music Association. October 24, 2013. Archived from the original on October 25, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  26. ^ "Poliça – Shulamith". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  27. ^ "2013 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. November 2, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  28. ^ "2013 Top 40 Independent Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. November 2, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  29. ^ "Poliça – Chart history: Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on June 30, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
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