Polartropica has always struck me as a beam of neon light cutting through static- unexpected and strange and sort of tender and a little surreal, yet still anchored in something true enough to feel like concrete under bare feet. In “Shiny Things,” she makes a turn again; this time stepping towards a narrative with the texture of dust and heat, and the emotional ash that lingers long after a love collapses in on itself.
The track enters gently, with banjo glittering like beer bottles catching sun in the late afternoon, and then she glides in like her voice always does- with that galactic shimmer. This time, however, the glimmer feels warmer, more worn in this time. You can hear the roots of her father’s love for John Denver- the cinematic sweep, the soft ache. Gilbert Louie Ray becomes an Americana heartbeat that thumps at the center. Brandon Graham’s surfy electric textures drift at the edges like the static of a distant radio. And against all industry logic anyway, it works, because Polartropica doesn’t chase genre, she bends it into orbit.
The strength of “Shiny Things” lies in the emotional micro-journey sewn into the writing. Rather than over-dramatizing heartbreak, she quietly dissects heartbreak, as if someone were sorting shards in a kitchen that needed sweeping. The ache is dense and sharp and metallic, but the ease of returning to self is there. The slow granting of self-acceptance. The strange relief. The way the ash settles and your outline appears again, reflecting who you were before.
The video is all Polartropica chaos-and-charm. A sun-toasted pirate in spite of a parking ticket, sailing the Salton Sea, was filmed at the peak of desert-heat day by Tristan Pelletier. It dances in whimsy, cinema, defiance, oddball weirdness, and full of heart…as much as it is an ecosystem that she lives in.
With every release she continues to expand her universe—Billboard mentions, NPR profiles, Berlin Music Video Award nominations, lengthy SXSW runs, or main stage slots that most indie artists can only dream about. But it’s somehow more than those moments, it’s “Shiny Things.” It’s like a hero returning home after the quest—dusty, a little wiser, cracked open in all the right ways. A reminder that even cosmic beings crack, and they sparkle.
Interview by Fernando for The Hollywood Six
Fernando: Your dad’s obsession with John Denver’s sweeping melodies clearly left a mark on “Shiny Things.” What’s one specific memory from blasting those tunes in the car or at home that still makes you smile when you hear the banjo kick in on this track?
Polartropica: I remember riding around in my dad’s old white Buick with my sister and parents to the local state park or reservoir, it would overheat sometimes so we’d have the heat on and windows open in the summer sometimes haha. Listening to John Denver also reminds me of my favorite great Aunt Ai that lived in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado.
Fernando: You’ve described the song as a gut-punch about love’s messy aftermath, but then it flips toward forgiveness and self-love. Walk us through that emotional pivot—when you were writing, did the lyrics start in the heartbreak zone and slowly crawl toward hope, or did the acceptance hit you all at once?
Polartropica: The song starts with looking back on the memory of meeting that special person for the first time, and remembering that early spark and attraction in sort of a bittersweet way because of how things ended. It flips over to forgiveness and understanding in the bridge where the lyrics go “It’s not your fault…” and the chorus flips to the other person in the relationship, saying they’re sorry for how things turned out, and that they wish they could have saved the relationship too.
Fernando: Teaming up with Gilbert Louie Ray brought banjo and acoustic warmth into your usual galactic swirl. How did the two of you land on that Americana sparkle, and what was the funniest moment in the studio when surfy Beach Boys guitars crashed into his twangy world?
Polartropica: We had so much fun writing this tune with Gilbert’s cats! We first recorded the bridge on Gil’s tiny toy piano, and when we got to the studio, Brandon Graham, our recording engineer, added in the Beach Boy Surf guitars over the synths!
Fernando: The “Shiny Things” video turns a pirate legend loose on the Salton Sea with a parking ticket twist—pure absurdity under a brutal desert sun. Whose idea was it to make the captain so gloriously toasted, and how close did the crew come to melting before Tristan Pelletier yelled cut?
Polartropica: We had no choice on getting roasted out there, it was just a result of being out in the desert on the hottest day of the heat wave for our shoot – between 114-122 on the car thermometer. The crew was just director Tristan and I, my corset and pirate layers were also making it difficult for me to breathe properly and I was seeing black patches in my vision and almost blacked out towards the end of the boat scenes while I was on the ship!
Fernando: Brandon Graham handled engineering, mixing, and those electric guitars that scream summer. What’s a tiny detail in the final mix—maybe a reverb tail or a harmony stack—that you fought to keep because it felt like the song’s heartbeat?
Polartropica: Brandon did an incredible job with the mixing and engineering, his electric guitar added a surfy element that makes the song fun as well! We liked the reverb a lot, and the way he stacks our harmonies at the end for the repeats of “Just for you” helps the end of the song feel more like a warm fuzzy hug, which is something we could all use!!
Fernando: You’ve built this ethereal synth-psychedelia universe that NPR and Billboard can’t stop buzzing about, yet “Shiny Things” dips into Everly Brothers harmonies and John Denver vistas. How do you decide when to let classic roots sneak into your space-dream sound without losing the Polartropica magic?
Polartropica: I’ve always had an affinity for sweeping, majestic soundtracks that reflect a sort of landscape – space was always a fun concept because anything is possible with all of the synthesizers and electronics, and lately the next frontier I want to explore is more earthly – which is just as magical if not more. Right at my fingertips! The grass, mountains, beautiful sky.. a lot of my music is also written about my experiences and based off of my close friends so none of that will change, it’s just painting our own magical world in a different setting – this one is more organic, think horses running through a lush forest full of neon colored animals and giant flowers next to a crystal blue beach with sparkling sand and a rainbow in the sky and a waterfall in the distance and a dance party on a rotating, soft grassy bouncy pillow cloud.
Fernando: From headlining LA PRIDE’s main stage to opening for Poppy, you’ve played everywhere from the Troubadour to SXSW official showcases. Which live moment—sweaty, chaotic, or straight-up euphoric—taught you the most about turning personal pain into crowd catharsis?
Polartropica: When you’re playing a new song you know most of the crowd has not heard yet and at some point they start bobbing their heads up and down 🙂 You know something from the depths of your soul that you made into a tune has gotten the message across and connected to the crowd. This happened with Terminator 2 which wasn’t recorded or released yet at our show in LA opening for Poppy!
Fernando: The pirate in the video is larger-than-life, but the song feels like a quiet conversation with yourself. If that captain could sit down with you after getting her ticket, what advice do you think she’d grunt out about letting go of shiny, heartbreaking things?
Polartropica: Detachment to outcome is the key to joyful peace. When in doubt, dance your way through it.
Fernando: Being inducted into the Recording Academy is huge—congrats again! How has rubbing elbows with that crowd shifted the way you approach collaborations like this one with Gilbert, especially when you’re blending genres that don’t usually share the same zip code?
Polartropica: It’s just been fun to see the inner workings of other music professionals, it’s been inspiring for sure – I don’t know if it’s shifted the way I approach collaborations, they seem to come pretty organically in my experience – collaborating on art with another artist is truly magical.
Fernando: You’ve soundtracked Blumhouse horrors and A24 thrillers, but “Shiny Things” feels like the soundtrack to a road trip where someone finally forgives their ex and themselves. If listeners only take one feeling home after spinning the record, what do you hope lingers in their rearview mirror?
Polartropica: I hope it’s a bright pink and gold sunrise lighting them up for the new adventures and day ahead, full of surprises and fun and delicious food 😀
The Hollywood Six 