Caroline Polachek Gets Primal In Her Surreal ‘Welcome To My Island’ Video

Caroline Polachek is upping the ante on the anticipation for Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, her album due on February 14, 2023, by giving “Welcome To My Island” a video today (December 12).

Co-directed by Polachek, the video begins viscerally with a close-up of her face as she lets out a mixture of a primal scream and an incredibly impressive vocal run. We watch her casually grab a coffee before she’s crammed into a cardboard box and transformed into a griffin-like creature. At one point, blood gurgles out of her mouth like lava from a volcano.

“Welcome To My Island / Hope you like me, you ain’t leavin’,” Polachek dictates in the refrain, sliding effortlessly in the soaring chorus: “Desire, I wanna turn into you / Float on / The ocean blue.”

“Welcome To My Island” released last week and was co-written with noted Olivia Rodrigo collaborator Dan Nigro. Polachek has also dropped “Sunset” and “Billions” this year, with “Bunny Is A Rider” landing in 2021.

“One, it can be read as being about the ‘you,'” Polachek recently told Rolling Stone of the album’s title. “We all know that feeling of falling in love, of wanting to obsessively learn from and become that person. But on the other hand, maybe desire is the thing you want to turn into itself.”

Watch the “Welcome To My Island” video above. She also announced 2023 tour dates today, so find those below.

02/10/2023 — Brighton, UK @ Chalk
02/11/2023 — Leeds, UK @ Leeds Beckett Student Union
02/12/2023 — Oxford, UK @ 02 Academy Oxford
02/14/2023 — London, UK @ Brixton Academy
02/15/2023 — Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
02/16/2023 — Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory
02/18/2023 — Paris, FR @ Salle Pleyel
02/20/2023 — Copenhagen, DK @ Vega
02/22/2023 — Berlin, DE @ Huxleys
02/23/2023 — Hamburg, DE @ Mojo Club
02/24/2023 — Amsterdam, NL@ Paradiso
02/25/2023 — Cologne, DE @ Kantine
02/27/2023 — Antwerp, BE @ Trix
04/14/2023 — Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall *
04/15/2023 — Boston, MA @ Roadrunner *
04/17/2023 — Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre *
04/18/2023 — Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre *
04/19/2023 — Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall *
04/21/2023 — Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern *
04/22/2023 — Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
04/24/2023 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall ^
04/25/2023 — Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater *
04/26/2023 — Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum ^
04/28/2023 — Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre #
04/29/2023 — Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Auditorium #
05/01/2023 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield %
05/04/2023 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo #
05/08/2023 — Vancouver, BC @ The Orpheum #
05/09/2023 — Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom #
05/13/2023 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
05/14/2023 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom @
05/16/2023 — Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre +
05/17/2023 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium +
05/19/2023 — Washington D.C. @ The Anthem +
05/20/2023 — New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall +

* with George Clanton
^ with Toro Y Moi
# with Sudan Archives
% with Magdalena Bay
@ with Alex G
+ with Ethel Cain

Desire, I Want To Turn Into You is out 2/14/2023 via Perpetual Novice. Pre-order it here.