New British Music Week: Madrid by Polarsets

When you hear the words “four-piece from Newcastle”, you don’t necessarily think of the sunshiney, synthy sound that Polarset produce. Their debut album, Parasols, was out at the end of last month, and they’ve already proved that they’ve got the sheer strength of will to give the mainstream a run for it’s money (they’ve been edging onto the Hype Machine this week).

Polarsets are both with and against the zeitgeist. By which I mean that it’s got those waves of synth, that bitty percussion, and obscured vocals that tie everything together- but it’s refreshingly free of the forced angst that seems to populate so much of the bands representing the electronica movement. The vocals are strange, sure- and strange is the only word I can use to describe them, and that’s probably a really good thing- and the music itself has that spinning, dizzying effect that all the best indietronica does. But Polarset ration it. They’re not all about the big synth sound, working slippery guitar licks and slow builds into the big hunk of a song. What emerges is a careful appreciation of the current electronica scene, and a refusal to lose their personality and style to it.

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