Music, Print, Reviews July 8, 2020

EP Review: Polyakov – Hazy

by Laura Giagos

Dream pop, as a genre, has a home in Northern Colorado, and in a way has come to represent the leisurely stroll through anxiety you get from living here. Northern Colorado is a nice place to live; great people, cool places to hang out, amazing outdoor spaces, but also a soul crushing sense of being stuck in the endless cycle of surviving while trying to make it look like you’re having a good time.

Bands like Gleemer and Slow Caves have really captured this in their music and following in their footsteps is Polyakov, the brain child of Alex Olson. At the end of May he released his four track debut EP, Hazy, a luscious and well-textured delivery that lives up to the title. 

Alex Olson performing live as Polyakov.

To fully capture this sound, Northern Colorado recording wiz Oliver Mueller of Slow Caves was brought on as producer. Under his technical guidance the EP achieves a richness that gives the project as a whole a contemplative nature that lends to the strength of the writing. When reached for comment Mueller had this to say; “Yo this fuckin record is cool and my boi Alex is the man.”

While Hazy isn’t breaking any ground in the genre, it’s a strong release. “Dirty Lenses” has some killer vocal harmonies on it, and the guitar effects and layering on “Building Forts” are mesmerizing. What the EP lacks in originality it more than makes up for in execution of the overall vision. You can see where Olson is heading with Hazy, and he makes it on the train before it leaves the station. As strong of an EP as it is, it also shows this is only the beginning and Olson definitely has his feet underneath him. Polyakov is another great Northern Colorado artist to watch.

Look up Hazy on the streaming platform of your choice, such as the one you’ll reach by clicking here.