Mickey Flipper

One of her most challenging if not most personal album. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. I think I finally got it. So Polly has stated in recent interviews that she was exhausted after the major world tour of her last album The Hope Six Demolition Project. After a while started tried to start her project. However, she alludes to experiencing ‘a moment’. She then started wondering if she should retire from music altogether. My personal thoughts… she experienced writer’s block. Leaving her wondering if she had the sincerity to keep creating music. Granted, she was staying busy doing projects for theatre and television soundtracks. (Ivan Van Hove’s theatrical production of All About Eve and Apple limited series Bad Sisters.) But she kept questioning her self worth as a musician. She talks to a friend who gives her advice. And ends up writing her poetry book Orlam. A sordid tale written in her native Dorset language where she grew up. In my personal opinion… Orlam is Polly’s Alice In Wonderland. The story of a nine year old girl growing up with her mother, father and brother in an uneventful village by the name of Underwhelem. Who is then haunted by the ghost of Wyman-Elvis. Allusions to Polly growing up and revisiting her past. Or roots - if you will. Certain poems end up becoming songs which end up being on I Inside The Old Year Dying. The tone of the album is extremely ambient. I feel like it borders on the quiet stillness one feels after experiencing a breakdown. That moment when your thoughts become quiet and distant after days of manic thoughts. Cloaked in sounds that bring about the feel of the town. This is Polly’s way of revisiting her past and finding inspiration again. By last song, A Noiseless Noise. You can feel how Polly finds the inspiration again as she “leaves the wandering woods”. By the time the music dies down. Polly begins questioning her feelings as a musician. “Just a noiseless noise? Just a gorely girl?” This is Polly searching for inspiration by revisiting her past and exploring those feelings. And she triumphs as she always does.