Based on 10 reviews from outlets we track. Scores run 60 to 100.
By the numbers: The second best-reviewed album of 2023 we've tracked. Scores ran from 60 (NME) to 100 (PopMatters).
| The gist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PopMatters via Wikipediaby Rob Moura | 10/10 | 100 | 2023 | “Caroline Polachek dives into the contradictory crux of the human experience on Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, an album of breathtakingly original pop songs.” |
| DIY via Wikipediaby Ben Tipple | 5/5 | 100 | 2023 | “A record that deliberately reaches a little to the left of perfect.” |
| Paste via Wikipediaby Eric Bennett | 9.2/10 | 92 | 2023 | “Paste Magazine is your source for the best music, movies, TV, comedy, videogames, books, comics, craft beer, politics and more. Discover your favorite albums and films.” |
| Exclaim! via Wikipediaby Kaelen Bell | 9/10 | 90 | 2023 | “Your daily dose of the best music, film and comedy news, reviews, streams, concert listings, interviews and other exclusives on Exclaim!” |
| The Line of Best Fit via Wikipediaby Sam Franzini | 9/10 | 90 | 2023 | “Polachek does things on her second effort that most artists never dream of achieving. A clear mastermind at work, her brilliance is in every nook and cranny of each song.” |
| Clash via Wikipediaby James Mellen | 9/10 | 90 | 2023 | “Few artists have seen a meteoric rise in recent years quite like Caroline Polachek; sidestepping away from band-work to solo, then stepping out from the” |
| AllMusic via Wikipediaby Matt Collar | 4.5/5 | 90 | ||
| Pitchfork via Wikipediaby Cat Zhang | 8.7/10 | 87 | 2023 | |
| Rolling Stone via Wikipediaby Maura Johnston | 4/5 | 80 | 2023 | “Caroline Polachek‘s 'Desire, I Want To Turn Into You” |
| NME via Wikipediaby Ella Kemp | 3/5 | 60 | 2023 | “The follow-up to 2019’s ‘Pang’ is hindered by a lengthy rollout, but Polachek’s sheer ambition is never in doubt” |
Every Sunday: the week's new albums, scored by the critics. Plus our own reviews when we post them. Free, and one click to leave.
More Indie & Alternative from around 2023
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How the Breakdown works
Every outlet’s score is converted to 0–100 (2/5 is 40, 5.9/10 is 59, a B+ is 88) and averaged. Grades follow the B-Side scale: A is 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60. Approval is the share of critics who scored it 75 or higher; the Breakdown shows green at 75 and up, red below. Divisiveness asks a different question: not how many critics liked it, but how close their scores are to each other. Five critics who all give it 50 are Unanimous, even though none of them liked it. The labels run Unanimous, Broad agreement, Some debate, Divided, and Contentious. Replay rate comes from listeners, not critics: yes counts fully, a few tracks counts half, no counts zero. The gist quotes each outlet’s own summary of its review. Published is the date on the review itself, read from the outlet’s page, so you can see whether an album’s reputation came at release or years later. Scores marked est. come from reviews that publish no number. Scores marked via Wikipedia are archive ratings, mostly for older albums, taken from the “Professional ratings” box on the album’s Wikipedia page (published openly through Wikidata); each links to the original review when we can find it online, and to that Wikipedia entry when we can’t. When an outlet reviewed an album twice, years apart (often for a reissue), both scores count, each labeled with its year.
A-Side marks the critics’ top tier. An album earns it automatically, from its numbers alone: a Breakdown of 90 or higher, from at least 5 reviews, with at least 75% approval. Nobody hands it out and nobody can buy it; if new reviews pull an album below the line, it loses the badge.




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