songs on Polica's acclaimed debut Give You the Ghost flowed into each other in a blur of feelings and sounds that evoked the Cocteau Twins working with a cutting-edge 2010s R&B producer. Wisely, Channy Leaneagh, Ryan Olson, and the rest of the band don't try to recapture that stream-of-consciousness beauty on Shulamith. Instead, on this more ambitious and effortful follow-up, they bring order to those chaotic emotions, most notably in the frosty slickness of Olson's production and Leaneagh's more assured singing. Give You the Ghost was such a wild ride in large part because of her heavily processed vocals, which often transcended words and focused on the emotional resonance of her tones. On Shulamith, she downplays the special effects, giving these songs a clarity that makes them a fitting counterpoint to the dreamlike intensity of Poli?a's debut. If Give You the Ghost was a tear-blurred meditation on loss, then this album embodies the sharper edges...