10 Years Later, Chairlift's 'Moth' Still Sounds Like Nothing Else
Revisiting an unsung indie-pop classic
In the early 2010s, Chairlift got an offer it couldn’t refuse. Beyoncé, decidedly a fan of the Brooklyn indie-pop group’s music, invited its two members, Patrick Wimberly and Caroline Polachek, to work on music with her.
Polachek, whose ongoing solo career has arguably eclipsed the now-defunct Chairlift’s in listenership, critical acclaim, and artistic ambition, submitted a nearly complete song for Beyoncé’s consideration. That track evolved into “No Angel,” a glimmery, sexy highlight from 2013’s legendary Beyoncé, the LP that invented the surprise album release.
Another track that Chairlift submitted for Bey’s consideration became the lead single from its third and final album, Moth, released exactly 10 years ago today. “Ch-Ching” encapsulates Moth’s odd charm and subversive hooks: It comprises just warbling bass, insistent handclaps, brass flickers, and Polachek’s steady yet breathless vocal delivery. But in swapping pop’s usual maximalism for sparsity and defying the standard formula — its chorus is its most subdued section — it booms even more loudly.
Moth may sound distinctly of the mid-2010s, but it’s also a singular, strange, radiant piece of pop music. It’s been somewhat forgotten about, seemingly fading into the shadows of Polachek’s justifiably beloved1 solo career, but it remains one of the 21st century’s most beguiling pop albums. An LP largely about love’s ins and outs, Moth’s arrangements, production, and vocal performances are so awash with positivity and jubilance that even its breakup songs beam with hope.
When working on Moth, Polachek and Wimberly ditched the booming, ‘80s-inspired synthpop of their critical breakthrough, 2012’s Something, for a more open yet just as ebullient sound: sparing, stuttering arrangements and grooves; subtle, molasses-like undercurrents. Although Moth’s “Romeo” is as much of a thrill ride as Something’s biggest hit, the synthpop sprint “I Belong in Your Arms,” it comprises little more than synth drones, a bottom-heavy guitar lick, flickering yet constant electronic percussion, and synthetic stomping. It’s nevertheless appropriately propulsive for a track on which Polachek makes desire sound like a race: “Hey Romeo / Put on your running shoes, I’m ready to go!”
Bangers around on Moth: “Romeo,” “Ch-Ching,” the sparkling strut of “Moth to the Flame,” the funky “Show U Off,” and especially “Polymorphing,” which somehow sounds like a jazz band and Bitte Orca-era Dirty Projectors alike.
“There’s something better than what you’re asking for, kid, kid / Tonight!” Polachek sings atop flickering guitars that transition into effusive brass. She clips into her featherlight yet full-bodied falsetto as she sings the word “tonight,” matching the promise of greater things that she’s singing about with her ascendant vocal tone. In the track’s home stretch, she lets out a quick shout2, and then the arrangement shifts to something out of a smooth-jazz infomercial. It’s utterly bizarre and endlessly replayable.
As much as Moth slaps, its ballads, which sound just a touch off in the most glorious of ways, might be even greater production feats. “Unfinished Business” is mostly Polachek’s high-register singing, some patchwork percussion, and a synth that’s less playing a melody than it is buzzing like a mosquito. As she draws out the chorus’s words (“Unfinished business / I’m not finished with this / This thing between just you and me”) so much that she adds extra syllables, she makes her heartbreak fully palpable, yet there’s an undeniable feeling of starry-eyed hope. The fluttering percussion is too beautiful to be fully depressing, and Polachek’s vocal performance evokes confidence alongside devastation.
“Crying in Public,” another Moth ballad, strikes the same balance of melancholy and optimism. Its minor-key melody feels more like seeing the stars amid a clear nighttime sky than being so full of tears you can’t envision anything beyond your sadness; the track is, after all, about falling in, not out of, love.
“Love will be the bridge / Over the sand / Love will be the key / From hand to hand,” Polachek sings as the track’s arpeggiated guitars yield to stirring bass and a thin sheen of synths. Its the perfect distillation of Moth’s unique perspective on love: Amid the tears, the sun still shines.
Polachek has continued exploring this balance in her solo career’s best ballads. You can trace a direct line from “Unfinished Business” to how she wrings heartache and dreaming alike out of whimsically minimalist arrangements and her slowly unspooling voice on “Hopedrunk Everasking” and “Butterfly Net” from her wildly acclaimed second album under her given name3, 2023’s Desire, I Want to Turn Into You.
Although that album is generally seen as Polachek’s best work — I wholeheartedly agree — Moth is the most unparalleled and incomparable release of her nearly 20-year career. (Same for Wimberly’s personal canon, though whereas Polachek has a full-on solo career, Wimberly has become MGMT’s go-to producer while also working with Joji, Kid Cudi, and Solange along the way.)
Nobody today is making music that sounds like Moth, including Polachek’s mainstream friends and collaborators such as Charli XCX and indie-pop visionaries such as Oklou (who has opened for Polachek). Instead of steeping Moth in accessible yet avant-garde R&B after Polachek’s “No Angel” moment, she and Wimberly were savvy enough to rebuild their sound from the bottom up. Chairlift may be over, but 10 years later, Moth, in its truly one-of-a-kind sound, is eternal.
What else I’ve been listening to
Various Artists: Vol 1.: Let’s Begin (2025)
This diverse, massive October 2025 compilation from SHIFT+CTRL Music — a label with a mission statement I love (“music should be bold, boundary-pushing, and driven by the artist. Not dictated by outdated industry standards”) — truly has something for everyone. From spoken-word contributions by fellow Substack anarchist mk zariel to ambient techno music by The Exerion and so much more, you’re bound to find something you enjoy, likely by an artist you haven’t yet heard of. If you love discovering new music, dive in!
Natti Vogel: “Gen Lover” (2022) and “FAB” (2023)
The LA-based chamber pop artist Natti Vogel’s ongoing album rollout isn’t like anything I’ve seen before. The LP isn’t yet available to anyone who didn’t buy the pre-release (I did), so I’m gonna write about his two most recent Bandcamp singles instead.
On “Gen Lover,” Vogel sneers, raps, and sings over resplendent pianos and gold-flecked electronics. His intonation comes off earnestly sweet at times and douchey, if not bro-like, at others, mirroring the track’s tension between Vogel embracing his newfound love and confessing he isn’t ready for it. “FAB,” short for “Free Ass Bitch,” sports a booming synth line and opulent production and cellos, like if Perfume Genius strove for Hot 100 resonance. “Don’t feel guilty for being a free-ass bitch!” Vogel sings. With his cinematic music, he tosses shame to the sidelines.
Dry Cleaning: Secret Love (2026)
On Secret Love, the third album from the witty British guitar band Dry Cleaning, stark production from Welsh psych-rock wizard Cate Le Bon dovetails with the sparse, arid sound Dry Cleaning began cultivating with its previous LP, 2022’s Stumpwork. The throughline to Secret Love from the band’s breakthrough debut album, 2021’s excellent New Long Leg, is frontperson Florence Shaw’s dryly hilarious non-sequiturs and nonsensical narratives, from tossed-off mentions of dick pics to her cosplaying as a cruise ship designer. “I make sure there are hidden messages in my work,” Shaw intones at one point. You likely won’t know what exactly she’s talking about, but you’ll know she means it.
What I’ve been reading
Stereogum: The Number Ones: Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License”
When you hear “Drivers License,” you hear someone going through it. You hear the kind of sentimentality and nostalgia that could only ever come from the very, very young. You hear this person attempting to keep things in perspective. You hear anger and betrayal and overwhelming self-pity. You hear someone mourning a part of her life that’s gone forever, and that moment means something, even if the relationship maybe never did.
Mondoweiss: This is how Israeli settlers, backed by the military, erased a Palestinian village from existence last week
On the morning of Sunday, December 28, 2025, Israeli military authorities issued a sudden warning: all residents of Yanoun had to evacuate by 4 p.m.
In Struggle: Trump’s war against the Americas
Just as absurd as charging a foreign president for controlling weapons of war is framing his apprehension as an “arrest.” If British special forces rappelled down into the Rose Garden to physically apprehend President Trump, no American publication would describe it as a mere “arrest”—no matter which UK laws Trump was accused of violating. We would call it an extrajudicial kidnapping and an act of war.
My work published elsewhere
The Creative Independent: Journalist, editor, and podcaster Zach Stafford on not doing it alone (and doing it for more than yourself)
The Creative Independent: Musician and writer cehryl on the value of being true to your own pace
Perhaps due to Caroline Polachek’s association with Charli XCX, nearly everyone I know who’s a big fan of Polachek’s solo work is in the LGBTQ+ community.
Polachek’s ability to hold a scream for a long-ass time has become one of her staples. See her feature on Charli XCX’s “Tears,” her Colbert performance of her SOPHIE-esque track “Dang,” or this weird internet artifact.
It’s easy to see Desire, I Want to Turn Into You as Polachek’s second studio album, but that’s only partially true. Before she dropped 2019’s Pang, her first album with her actual name on it, she released the 2014 album Arcadia under the name Ramona Lisa and the 2017 album Drawing the Target Around the Arrow under the name CEP.