Album Review: POLIÇA, Dreams Go

On Dreams Go, POLIÇA’s sixth album, grief doesn’t settle: it pulses, refracts and transforms. Written and recorded in the aftermath of bassist Chris Bierden’s glioblastoma diagnosis, the record becomes both an elegy and act of resistance: eight songs that shimmer with sorrow but refuse stasis.

From the opening moments of ‘Carlines’, the duo return to their elemental alchemy of shadowy synths, hypnotic drum patterns, and Channy Leaneagh’s fluttering vocals, here laced with a rawer kind of ache. The textures are denser than ever, breathing with uncertainty, a sound suspended between mourning and motion.

‘She Knows Me’ leans into the band’s most intimate instincts, while ‘Creepin’’ stretches toward unfamiliar terrain, with svelte production chops that add a sharp, metallic edge. Bierden’s melodic basslines, in his final studio recordings before he lost the ability to play, are deeply felt throughout, anchoring the songs with tender finality.

While Dreams Go is shaped by absence, it doesn’t wallow in it. Instead, it radiates a quiet defiance. Tracks like ‘Li5a’ explore how to hold on when things fall away. There’s a sense of preservation here, not just of sound, but of connection: musical, personal and spiritual.

By turns heart-rending and hopeful, Dreams Go is the document of a band transforming pain into light: proof that their creative bond remains unshakable, even in the face of darkening uncertainty.

8/10