You know that scene from classic ’80s flick Ghost where Patrick Swayze comes up behind Demi Moore while she’s molding a clay pot and things get a little steamy? Watch that on mute and play Chairlift’s “Cool as a Fire” in the background. It’s intimate like that.
In a wave of spandex-age nostalgia the song eases in smoothly and glides along like the sensuous curve of a leotard-clad hip until a brief hiccup of emotion breaks Caroline Polachek’s whispery vocals. As she realizes “With or without you, I don’t have a choice,” the image of Polachek tossing and turning in bed comes to mind with each echoing and forlorn keystroke of the resonating background piano. “Cool as a Fire” is much less catchy pop hooks and more raw emotion than its eleven companion songs on Something.
Yet as Polachek puts it, “Nothing ever lasts forever,” and neither does this song. After what feels like a short four minutes clad in chiffon and longing, you emerge from “Cool as a Fire” with the intense desire to celebrate someone’s overlooked 16th birthday or to stand outside of your lover’s window, boom box aloft.
Light some candles and throw out those old Dido albums; when it comes to synthesizer-infused, romantic pop ballads, Chairlift has you covered.