Hits instead of a rally – Newspaper Kommersant No. 228 (7429) dated 12/08/2022

The main and most patriotic Russian pop vocalist of the last decade Polina Gagarina has released a new album “Inhale”. They are unlikely to go on the attack with him, he believes Boris Barabanov.

Everything good that could happen to a young singer in Russia happened to Polina Gagarina before 2016, before the release of her previous album “9”. She won the Star Factory, released so far everyone’s favorite hits with the music of Konstantin Meladze, in a difficult year 2015 brought Russia second place in the Eurovision Song Contest and took the mentor’s chair in the Voice show. And then a singer with a voice and taste found herself in a situation where they talk about her in a political context, and this is sad.

In 2018, Polina Gagarina became a confidant of Vladimir Putin during his election campaign and joined the movement with the English name Putin Team. In the same 2018, Mrs. Gagarina added to her social burden and became a confidant of Sergei Sobyanin. And then she entered the Presidential Council for Culture and Art.

Finally, in March 2022, she performed at a rally-concert in Luzhniki, which was dedicated to the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea to Russia and became the first mass action in support of the SVO. The concert was held under the slogan “For a world without Nazism! For Russia! For the President!

At Luzhniki, Polina Gagarina sang the Kukushka song by the Kino group, which has been part of her repertoire since the appearance of this version in the film Battle for Sevastopol (2015). The performance of the song at the rally caused a new storm of controversy on the topic of “appropriation” of Viktor Tsoi’s legacy by ultra-patriotic forces, as well as on which side the musician would have been on if he lived to this day.

The performance of Polina Gagarina in a white coat with a St. George ribbon was comparable in resonance with the appearance of the president. Since then, there have been no doubts about what musical “camp” the singer is in.

In the first days of December, the press was actively quoting, presumably, a list of artists sent by the presidential administration to the regions and state-owned enterprises, who are recommended to be invited to New Year’s events. It is noted that these are artists of a “patriotic orientation.” The list includes Polina Gagarina.

Just on the eve of the publication of this list, her fourth studio album “Inhale” was released. It is difficult to imagine that someone in the administration of the head of state had time to listen to him, and this was the reason for the inclusion of the singer in the “white list”. Most likely, she was taken on board by the amount of merit. The important thing here is that in today’s music industry, a pop artist, in principle, is not obliged to release albums, hit singles and clips are enough. And at the moment when you literally personify the correct and carefully selected Z-stage, no one will notice the absence of albums for six years.

Nevertheless, there is an album – and it is worthwhile to figure out what the singer Polina Gagarina is, if we ignore her beliefs.

Album opening track “Butterflies” – a trivial dance number of a lyrical orientation. “We will remember our forbidden paradise, it was the best for the two of us, so you know” – such texts, in theory, should have been written by artificial intelligence for a long time. In the song “Inhale” Gagarina sings “I release all your sins into the sky” and, like thousands of singers before her, asks the hero of the song “do not call again.”

Song “Shadows” begins with the words “A new day will shed its light on everything. I’ll notice what I didn’t want, ”and it seems that here, at last, the singer is waiting for the realization of some important, maybe even geopolitical truths. But it again talks about a difficult relationship with a lover: “Tears cannot be held back, but time heals.”

“It has become cold in this city,” Gagarina sings in the “Crying” number, and this is also not about freezing Europe, but about relationships. “Don’t call me at night without a reason, I won’t be a bird in your hands” – these and other text clichés are put into an arrangement that would suit Zivert, Anna Asti, and other girls from the cutting edge of today’s stage. “God, why did you give it to me, if all this is not forever?” – Polina Gagarin asks the Supreme in the song “Water”. The Almighty, as always, is silent. The song “Not My Cinema” is similar to the material of those times when Konstantin Meladze was engaged in its repertoire – however, he would hardly have allowed the line “start the page from scratch” to sound in the song. “Last November” with electronic drums and synths from an old hits cassette, as if it should mean following the trends, this is now the most fashionable sound. But neither in the composition nor in the performance of Polina Gagarina is there even a small spark of originality, her own attitude to music.

Over the past ten years, Polina Gagarina has rightfully claimed the title of the most prominent and most gifted Russian singer. She had material worthy of European radio stations, and she was ready to develop, move in different directions. But when you listen to the predictable album “Vdoh” through and through, it seems that it would be better if she released something as wild and devoutly patriotic as Ivan Okhlobystin’s speeches – her voice allows and even disposes. Because instead a collection of platitudes came out.