Threshold by Natalia Wojtas
Thresholds mark a specific type of transition: one that’s harsh, delineated, and indisputable. Life affords very few of these moments, but Polish progressive pop artist Natalia Wojtas laser-focuses on these snapshots with her new EP Threshold. We witness Wojtas fall through a one-way door in her life, struggling to accept the rapid changes she identifies in herself after the fact. Where her self-worth had previously been bound up in another person’s assessment of her, she now stares down a future of self-generated value. For the first time in years, she realizes that she has a chance to be whoever she wants to be, a prospect which brings her to life but at the same time scares the living shit out of her. As a result, she gives us this record, which stays true to her personal icons Bjork and Kate Bush. Wojtas pins her immaculate vocals up on a wall painted with the deep, dark hues of downtempo alternative electro pop, forming her impressive performances into stories with distinct individual narratives.
At the end of this epic journey, we see Wojtas sitting alone in her room, willing to fake her own death rather than go out and face the world. At first glance, everything about what we’re seeing feels pathetic, pitiable, and deeply undesirable, but Wojtas corrects us before we can even get a word out. She names the song “Bliss,” and she rails on about the pure joy of ignoring the ramifications of her personal changes while choosing instead to hide away from a world that can judge her. Threshold withholds any sort of closure or happy ending, but in so doing the record recognizes that Wojtas’ story continues today. Though she may have passed a critical threshold, both her and her listeners know that she will continue to evolve in the future, making a neat bow impossible to tie atop the story of her recent past. Until now, we know that we’ll find Wojtas alone somewhere, enjoying her own company as she regains the strength to explore this new room she’s been cast out into.