Expanding on her carefully crafted lush, ‘80s tinged pop palette, ‘Shake Off’ flirts with a more lo-fi sound. Taking inspiration from New Order and Day Wave, and moody pop artists like Sky Ferreira, charly adds acoustic guitar, bass guitar, and ominous arpeggiators, surrounding her tender vocal. With shimmering melodies and painfully relatable storytelling (“thought we were love drunk, but you’re two years sober”), charly captures the delicate juxtaposition of bright and dark, hope and abandonment, desire and crushing heartbreak.

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Following her debut EP Getaway Car, the Dutch London-based singer and songwriter took the time to hone her skills with the goal to fully self-produce and self realise her next body of work. Where Getaway Car felt like a rebirth wrapping up a long, painful brain injury recovery from a car crash, Poly Pop is a confident, introspective next chapter combining charly’s love for polyphonic synthesizer sounds and navigating a solo-polyamorous lifestyle.

Nothing exemplifies this more than the wistfully energetic new single ‘Half Wide Open’, released today. On the track, charly combines luminous, pulsing arpeggiators with her signature silky, yearning vocals that soar over energetic drum fills, evoking comparison to Purity Ring, CHVRCHES, and MUNA.

“I wanted to encapsulate the excitement and hopefulness of a new relationship in the production, whereas my vocal and lyrics serve as the painful reality: It wasn’t meant to be,” shares charly. “There’s a fine line between hope and despair, love and heartbreak, and strength and vulnerability. To me, a relationship between two people is algebra. So many factors come into the equation, such as timing, attachment styles, and personal circumstances. Only 5% of the population being poly doesn’t help either! Something succeeding seems to be almost impossible at times.”

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‘Busy Minds’ is a delicate duet exploring the complexities and challenges involved in a fading relationship with someone with ADHD, combining rich synth soundscapes, distorted chopped vocals, rippling arpeggios, dreamy vocal harmonies and shoegaze guitars. Having previously collaborated with other producers, this is charly’s first fully self-produced single. Here, charly attempts to sonically evoke the experiences of those affected by ADHD in her production. Whilst the beat and vocals provide a steady foundation, the building of tension and frustration can be heard as the song progresses. Where the two earnest voices take their own POV throughout the song, they find each other in a bridge that builds towards a bold and unexpected climax evoking comparison to Chromatics, M83 and Phoenix.

Going deeper into the story behind ‘Busy Minds’, charly explains: “The lyrics are based on past relationships with partners that have been diagnosed with ADHD, in which we were ‘fighting with, embracing, and struggling on the rollercoaster ride’ that’s the Busy Minds’. What was very important to me is to not point any fingers whatsoever, it’s about two caring people who try to make it work, but sadly have to conclude that their relationship can’t succeed. It’s compassionate and gentle, yet you can feel the tension and frustration building below the surface.”

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