Led by its Taiwanese-born, Los Angeles-based creative mastermind Ihui (pronounced as Eeway) Cherise Wu and featuring Andrew Lessman, Graham Chapman and Alexander Noice, the Los Angeles-based indie act Polartropica has received attention locally and elsewhere for an ethereal and spacey taken dream pop that’s centered around organic and synthetic instrumentation, quickly pop melodies and classical string arrangements. Musically, Wu aims to allow listeners to let their imaginations run wild, with the hopes that her work is a little escape from the harshness of reality — if even just for a little bit. “I wanted to create a healing, inspiring and empowering space with just the right amount of disco-party,” Wu says.
Last year, Wu and company were named LA Weekly’s Best Indie Pop Band of 2019 and received praise from Billboard, LADYGUNN and others. Polartropica’s recently released, full-length debut Dreams Comes True further cements the band’s attention grabbing sound while building upon a rapidly growing profile. Thematically, the album draws from stories of people she knows, world news and Wu’s experiences as a queer Asian-American living in California, which imbues the material with a deeply personal air. “In Another Life,” Dreams Come True’s latest single is a perfect example of the band’s genre-mashing, difficult to pigeonhole sound and approach. Centered around a sinuous and strutting, disco-styled bass line, shimmering and atmospheric synths, four-on-the-floor drumming, Wu’s ethereal vocals and an infectious hook, the song is a swooning and dreamy yet dance floor friendly take on dream pop. Thematically, the song focuses on karmic love, and the heart falling into your stomach feeling when meeting someone for the first time and yet it feels like you’ve known them forever.
Written by Wu and directed by Stephanie Kim, the recently released video for “In Another Life” is the first part of a video trilogy — and it’s a boldly queer fever dream that plays on Grease and James Dean movies, complete with an adorable meet cute between the video’s protagonists.
