The music projects of songwriter, producer, and singer
Caroline Polachek have ranged from the dramatic synth pop of
Chairlift to her more brooding alter ego
Ramona Lisa, experimental ambient music as
CEP, and off-kilter electro-pop under her own name. She cracked the Billboard 200 as a member of
Chairlift with their second album, 2012's
Something. Her
Ramona Lisa debut,
Arcadia, arrived in 2014 and
Drawing the Target Around the Arrow, her first album as
CEP, saw release in 2017. In 2019, she issued her first effort as
Caroline Polachek,
Pang, which found her further exploring atmospheric electro-pop, a style she continued to showcase on 2021's Standing at the Gate: The Remix Collection and the single "Bunny Is a Rider." In the meantime, her songwriting credits for other artists included tracks by
Beyoncé,
Solange,
Travis Scott, and
Charli XCX, among others.
Born in 1985 in Manhattan,
Polachek spent her early years living in Tokyo with her family, where she was exposed to traditional Japanese music. Around age six, she moved back to the States. Growing up in Greenwich, Connecticut, she rode horses, sang in the school choir, and began playing the keyboard. During high school, she discovered punk, emo, and indie rock, and played in several bands before heading to college.
It was in early 2006, while a student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, that
Polachek formed
Chairlift with Aaron Pfenning with the aim of providing music for haunted houses. After finding that their work transcended its original purpose, Pfenning and
Polachek pulled up stakes and headed east, settling in Brooklyn before adding third member
Patrick Wimberly. They quickly made a name for themselves, playing shows with similar up-and-comers like
MGMT and
Yeasayer while inking a contract with the independent label
Kanine.
Chairlift's first release on the label, a single titled "Evident Utensil," featured a remix by
MGMT and was a precursor to the group's full-length debut. Issued in 2008,
Does You Inspire You received an extra promotional boost when "Bruises" appeared in a commercial for a popular tech company.
By early 2009, major labels came calling and
Chairlift signed to
Columbia, which reissued
Does You Inspire You that April. Sophomore album
Something was recorded by the duo of
Polachek and
Wimberly following the departure of Pfenning. Arriving in early 2012, it elevated the band's kaleidoscopic pop to a grander scale with assistance from producers
Dan Carey and
Alan Moulder. The album cracked the Billboard 200 and ended up on many "best-of 2012" lists. One fan of the record turned out to be
Beyoncé, who invited the duo to help collaborate on songs for Beyoncé. Making it onto the final 2013 album was "No Angel," which
Polachek co-wrote with
Beyoncé and
James Fauntleroy.
Early the next year,
Polachek made her solo debut with
Arcadia (Terrible Records), releasing it under the moniker
Ramona Lisa. She recorded the entire album on her laptop, using only MIDI instrumentation and no external microphones. The EP Dominic followed before the end of 2014, with the three-track Piano Versions arriving in 2015.
The following year, she reunited with
Wimberly for
Chairlift's third album,
Moth, which found the duo adopting a slicker, more pop-oriented sound. Featuring instrumental input from
Quadron's
Robin Hannibal, the record was issued on
Columbia in early 2016.
Polachek also contributed songwriting to a track from that year's
Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight by rapper
Travis Scott.
In January 2017, she released her first instrumental album,
Drawing the Target Around the Arrow, under her initials,
CEP. An hour-long set built from sine waves, it arrived on Pannonica Records.
Chairlift disbanded later in 2017, performing a set of farewell shows that April, with their final set taking place at Brooklyn Steel. By the end of 2017,
Polachek had contributed writing to new releases by
Beach Fossils,
Charli XCX,
Fischerspooner,
Solange, and
Pentatonix offshoot
Superfruit. She appeared as a featured vocalist on 2018 recordings by
Blood Orange,
the Night Game, and
Charli XCX.
In 2019, she returned with the electro-pop track "Door," released on
Columbia Records and using her own name. Several more songs appeared online, including "Ocean of Tears," "Parachute," and "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings," all of which led up to the release of the full-length
Pang. The album found
Polachek working with handful of collaborators, including
Danny L. Harle,
A.G. Cook,
Andrew Wyatt, and others. A companion album, Standing at the Gate: The Remix Collection, arrived in 2021 and featured remixes of tracks off
Pang, as well as a cover of
the Corrs song "Breathless." Also in 2021, she released the
Harle-produced standalone single "Bunny Is a Rider." ~ Marcy Donelson & Chris True