Released in early 2023, “Desire, I Want To Turn Into You” by Caroline Polachek is one of the most intriguing pop albums of the year. The album was given a glowing 8.7/10 by Pitchfork and an 8.9/10 by Metacritic.

However, despite this critical acclaim, the album has achieved very little popularity. What’s so strange about this album, besides the often odd and confusing music itself, is that it is just now becoming popular. Almost nine months after it was released, the album debuted on the Billboard Hot 200 at #87.

To understand why this album specifically is so special, we have to start with the music itself.

“Desire, I Want To Turn Into You” is strange. It’s one of the most unconventional pop albums released this year, and it also turned out to be one of the best. You hear Polachek’s voice belting over a trap beat on “Welcome to my Island” right before you’re thrown into the Spanish guitars and violins of “Sunset.”

Describing the album as a whole is almost impossible with the wide range of styles that Polachek incorporates.

Overall, Desire is about just that – desire. The album mostly conforms to stories of relationships, good and bad, all carried along with Polachek’s almost angelic voice.

Throughout the album, the way Polachek manipulates her own voice and the words she is saying elevates the album to a whole new level. Her delivery on the album closer, “Billions”, makes it feel like one is hearing the words she is saying for the first time ever.

The experience of listening to Desire is almost as intriguing as the album itself. The first time through, the album is confusing and doesn’t make much sense.

“Why is this lady screaming at me?”, “This sounds really strange”, and “Where did the children’s choir come from?” were all common thoughts in my head during my first listen.

Desire is unyielding. It takes time to adjust to the album’s sound and begin to figure it out.

By the third time I listened, the songs began to worm their way into my head. The beats, lyrics, and instrumentals finally begin to form something cohesive and beautiful.

Desire isn’t meant as an album to turn on in the background.It’s an album to be intrigued and challenged by. It’s crazy, but it’s immensely beautiful and, oftentimes, equally fun and poignant.

To restate, Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, initially received little popularity when it was first released, despite its critical acclaim. Now, the album has recently peaked at #87 on the Billboard Hot 200, showcasing an astronomical rise in listeners for that week.
What happened?

Polachek recently performed her new single, “Dang” on “The Late Show’ with Stephen Colbert, a performance that could be described as odd and mystifying. Despite that, videos of the performance have racked up hundreds of thousands of views online while also trending on various social media platforms, primarily twitter.

Along with this, the album has gained a lot of attention on Twitter and TikTok as one of the best albums of the year. The power that social media now has over media marketing has turned a work that was slowly fading from the public eye into a Grammy-nominated album.

Desire, I Want To Turn Into You was just nominated for Best Engineered Album of the year for the 67th Grammys. I am definitely not mad about it being snubbed from any of the other categories. Jump onto the bandwagon and listen to one of the best albums of the year.

It might take a while to get into, but Desire will surely take you on a trip starting out with a warning of watching your head and ending with a children’s choir singing images of headless angels. Sit down and buckle in for the ride.

“No, nothing’s gonna be the same again / Desire, float on the ocean blue”
“Welcome To My Island” – Caroline Polachek