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Jun 20, 2024 By Caleb Campbell

Snakeskin is the latest project from indie singer/songwriter Shanna Polley. After over a decade in the Brooklyn DIY scene, the project sees Polley adopting the moniker Snake and dressing her art pop soundscapes with a celestial and cinematic element. She debuted as Snakeskin with her 2017 album, I Love My Room, followed by her 2018 record Hangnail.

In 2021 she returned with a new visual album, Heart Orb Bone, the first part in a series of multi-album collaborations with visual artist William Bottini. Together, the surreal music videos make up a narrative Polley and Bottini have coined Legend Sound Forever. Later this year, she’s set to share the latest installment of the project with her new album Summoning Suit, out August 23rd via Subsititue Scene Records. Today, Polley is back with the record’s lead single, “Cross Country,” along with its accompanying video, premiering with Under the Radar.

“Cross Country” is a slow-burning art pop sprawl. The track stretches out over an expansive seven minutes, beginning on chilly synth beds and subdued synth percussion before expanding into a swirling dance of shimmering arpeggios and resonant vocal performances. The result is meditative and gently paced, but also utterly mesmerizing. By the time the track reaches its final climactic height, Polley’s lead vocal is only one voice among a dazzling array of glittering guitars, synths, and vocal harmonies. The accompanying video offers a striking and surrealist visual element to the track, but the track is equally captivating as a showcase for Polley’s ambitious songwriting and immaculate melodic sensibility.

Polley says of the video, “A figure turns and steps into the light of a cold, stone stage. It is Magic Man, a figure we’ve seen before (‘Heart Orb Bone,’ ‘Spinning Heart’), this time appearing as a disembodied, uncanny likeness of Snake, dressed in a velvet robe and glittering blue cap. Magic Man sings a love song, ‘Cross Country,’ in its deep, strange voice. ‘I don’t mean to be cruel… but it’s my last year of school…’ Snake is there on the stage, too, seated and stoically singing the accompaniment to Magic Man’s serenade. The song is about doing anything for someone you love, no matter how far away they may be. An uncomfortable tension simmers, and the duet evolves into a battle.”

Check out the song and video below. Summoning Suit is out August 23rd via Substitute Scene Records.