Already with two albums and several EPs to her name, Irish artist and producer Margaret O’ Sullivan has been releasing music as FEMMEPOP since 2008.
Her first album ‘From A Girl Who Never Sleeps’ issued in 2014 was followed up with ‘Dancing With Myself’ in 2017, the title track of which was a cover of GENERATION X’s ode to masturbation. Her portfolio is diverse to say the least, from her own pop songs to collaborations with synthwave stalwarts such as TIMECOP1983, KALAX and Robert Parker. There was also ‘Tomodachi’, a track with fellow synth femme MECHA MAIKO for the Canadian’s ‘Mad But Soft’ long playing debut.
FEMMEPOP’s 2019 ‘London’ EP surprised as an all instrumental affair, while her most recent single was an electronic reworking of the mid-19th Century murder ballad ‘Tom Dooley’.
With inspiration from THE FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON and BOARDS OF CANADA, she returns to instrumental-based work with the engaging EDM flavoured ‘Tief’; meaning “deep” in German and with prominent arpeggios, it has precision in production and comes with a geometric visual accompaniment that turns her art into a complex dimensional conception.
“During the pandemic I felt the most uninspired I have ever felt throughout my entire life. Normally I release and EP or album every year” Margaret O’ Sullivan told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, “Ever since the ‘CYM’ EP I have been more interested in writing electronic soundscapes and instrumentals, rather than using my first instrument which would be my voice, so it sometimes it also feels odd not singing. But this is where I am right now, this is what I want to produce in my studio. It feels more evolved. The writing of this track came very quickly and melodies and beats just seemed to fit together easily”.
FEMMEPOP is also currently in the process of writing and producing a new album which will be released on the Scottish independent label Werra Foxma in early 2023. The first new music from FEMMEPOP since 2020, in her own words “It made me want to dance and shout, to get up and enjoy life again”.
The delightful Berlin based Nordic duo ULTRAFLEX are back and this time, they want you to ‘Relax’!
Kari Jahnsen and Katrín Helga Andrésdóttir had made music under their respective solo monikers of FARAO and SPECIAL-K. But they came together as ULTRAFLEX in 2020 for a sexy sport and fitness inspired disco debut ‘Visions Of Ultraflex’ as they felt “the need to stop being miserable and do something fun for a change.”
For their glittering new single ‘Relax’, the playful pair turn to Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (or ASMR) for inspiration. During the worldwide pandemic and its prolonged confinement, the need to unwind was a given. Oddly satisfying videos of makeovers, making ramen, zit popping and playing with slime became popular as they triggered a tingling sensation on the scalp before moving down the back of the neck, providing calmness and relaxation in a number of viewers.
“Get your dose of tingles” say ULTRAFLEX about their ASMR inspired video for ‘Relax’, made in collaboration with nail-artist Lisa Mård, jewellery designer Margrét Unnur Guðmundsdóttir, make-up artist Jana Kalgajeva and cinematographer Ingrid Loftsgården.
For ULTRAFLEX, the audio and visual aspects to their art cannot be separated; they said to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK in 2020 that “We felt like the music wasn’t complete without a visual universe surrounding it”.
So as ULTRAFLEX continue from where they left off, “Throw on a G-string and some high heels, find a bottle of body lotion and lather up whilst listening to the sound of bells, chimes, shimmery synths and authoritarian command / creepy psychiatrist order to take it easy”.
‘Relax’ is released by Street Pulse Records and available on the usual online platforms
“Love not war, art not invasion, inspiration not fear” is the message of ‘Same River Twice’, the sixth single by SNS SENSATION, the ice cool minimal Italo-influenced project of Sebastian Muravchik who is best known as the charismatic front man of HEARTBREAK who have shared stages with THE PRESETS, LA ROUX, LITTLE BOOTS, ITALOCONNECTION and BLANCMANGE.
While rooted in synthpop and swathed in a monochromatic sepia, ‘Same River Twice’ takes a more baroque direction compared with previous SNS SENSATION releases, outlining how a relationship can embody the metaphysical questions of change and permanence.
Sebastian Muravchik chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.BO.UK about the more cerebral philosophical approach to the genesis of ‘Same River Twice’, both aurally and visually…
‘Same River Twice’ is a very on point phrase right now, but what had been your original intent with the song?
I can’t speak of intent, but I can say the process involved looking deeper into Parmenides (which is quoted in the lyrics), and looking a bit further into transcending the binary opposition between being and becoming (between Parmenides and Heraclitus, as it seems to be widely understood). I’m trying to work out the idea that everything is always changing and you cannot step into the same river twice (Heraclitus) and that at the same time there is no “twice” because time is an illusion and it’s all “being” (Parmenides).
The point that has been made before and I am building on is that we can look at the beauty of an idea and decide to take it on the basis of its beauty alone. So two beautiful ideas such as these two can be both true even if supposedly opposed. Beauty overrides exclusivist binarisms.
Of course looking into what beauty means is important here, and I suppose the best way to explain it is in relation to flow and freedom, which is not the same as excitement (neo fascists get excited about their ideas but these are not beautiful ideas; the excitement is the energy of trauma repressed in the subconscious and coming out as fresh repressive violence to try and control the repressive mandates that have oppressed the fascist himself as he was traumatised and then developed his sociopathy). Liberation is key here. That is, not the identification with the oppressor that imprisons so many people, but the awareness of our oppressor inside. When those repressive mandates are silenced, I believe the beauty available to you glows like nothing else in this life; but it is a long journey that many people choose not to undertake unfortunately. SNS SENSATION is all about that journey: music and art are as effective conduits to liberation and the ideal state of permanent flow as you’re going to get.
But as I was writing the song, a story of disappointment and alienation also filtered through. Time was already a key theme but now it was about time and distance, and how time destroys hope and connection between people (perhaps as much as it helps develop it, or that might be how it feels now, with the end of humanity looming on different fronts).
And yet in this story of increasing alienation and oblivion, I found a sense of infinity which I hear a lot in disco music but not as much in synthpop. That’s why the song fades out, because at that point in the song I believed it deserved to reach out to the infinite; this song did not need to end, it needed to merge into the silence of infinity (which incidentally befits both being and becoming).
I think this is one of my favourite songs of mine, it feels as if I’ve really found my fog. Infinite flow glows in this fog as it takes me with it wherever the wind may blow.
Was the video inspired by any particular artists or film directors?
I think late Beckett is usually important (‘Not I’ in particular, but also ‘Rockaby’). But also, interestingly, talented DJ and drone artist Xen Von Katz mentioned the music video for ERASURE’s ‘Blue Savannah’ – as a fellow ERASURE fan I was so pleased to discover that subconscious influence in this project.
The split face has a scary Impressionism, what the thinking behind this imagery?
I guess I have now reached the point where I get to see these images for what they are in themselves, their potential for meaning a mere aspect of their constitution – that is, seeing them as potential rather than as embodying a definitive intent. So in effect I know as much about the thinking of it as anyone else, and so the intent is multiplied.
Now that you ask, though, my interpretation of this might be that there has to be an element of that being-becoming dichotomy. But also, there’s an element of breaking, of breakdown, of crisis but also of liberation and multiplication somehow.
Like if you’re sad then you need to think about how you think about your sadness. Sadness in itself can be very beautiful, but it must be dealt with appropriately to avoid anxiety and panic. I wish this culture of ours focused less on money and power and fetiche, and more on the complexities of flow. In flow we can experience life as creation, and we are unburdened from notions of ownership. Like Moria Casán said “si queres llorar, llorá”.
We have been aided, multiplied, write Deleuze and Guattari on transcending the binary. I guess I hope this music video works as the cracked mirror inside of us, burning, splintering and synthesised in the same way the infinite and oblivion join forces in the ether of music, the only version of the absolute idea that seems to work for me.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Sebastian Muravchik
Valerie Renay, one-time frontwoman of NOBLESSE OBLIGE has recorded an icy synth laden cover of SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES’ ‘Christine’.
No stranger to drastically reworked covers, with NOBLESSE OBLIGE, Renay recorded a stark funereal cover of THE EAGLES’ ‘Hotel California’ in 2013 on their album ‘Affair Of The Heart’.
Laced with layers of string machine, her downtempo take on ‘Christine’ comes from an upcoming Siouxsie tribute album entitled ‘Icon’; the collection also features the brooding reinterpretation of ‘Rhapsody’ by Jorja Chalmers which was included on her ‘Midnight Train’, one of the best albums of 2021 and Jay-Jay Johanson’s trip-hop flavoured stamp on ‘Tattoo’. Additionally, Berlin-based duos PYSCHE and NNHMN respectively contribute heavy electronic versions of ‘Cities In Dust’ and ‘Happy House’ while Italian Combo HIDDEN PLACE points ‘Dazzle’ in a frantic industrial goth direction to highlight how under-rated the song is within the Banshees catalogue.
To accompany ‘Christine’, Valerie Renay has produced a low budget, lo-fi, DIY video featuring German underground musician and model Steve Morell in a cameo; she spoke to ELECTRICITY CLUB.CO.UK about the Strawberry Girl and the Banana Split Lady…
When you get invited to cover songs on these tribute albums, do you get to choose or are you told what to perform?
I was able to choose, but my first choice, which was ‘Israel’, had already been chosen by someone else. Luckily, ‘Christine’ was still free!
What was the inspiration behind your arrangement of ‘Christine’?
I started by playing the song on the piano and jam with Theo Taylor, who co-produced the track. I wanted to create something slow, moody, dreamy, and sensual to depict this descent into insanity that is the story of the real Christine. I tried to construct a spacious and sonically sparse sphere like a hall of mirrors, where it’s hard to tell reality from fantasy, and you just find yourself drifting aimlessly.
You made the video on a zero budget. What is the story and how did you get it made?
We made the video in my old flat in the middle of the lockdown at the end of 2020, while it was still kind of illegal to gather in the same room unless the windows and doors were open. Theo Taylor also shot and edited the video. I knew he was leaving for New Zealand shortly after, and it was our last chance to make a video together.
The lyrics of the song were inspired by the book ‘The Three Faces of Eve’ which tells the story of Christine Sizemore, a woman who suffers from multiple personality disorder. The names in the songs, Strawberry Girl, Turtle Lady, etc are actual names that Christine’s children gave to the different distinct personalities, of which there were 22 in all.
So, ideally I wanted 22 people to come into my flat and “be me”. In the end, I was happy to get hold of a handful of friends and get them to stand outside in the garden while we were shooting inside, one at a time, trying to respect the corona regulation as much as possible.
It was a very intimate affair. The atmosphere was relaxed, and we managed to have a lot of fun while shooting and drinking wine. I was honoured that Berlin living legend and supermodel Steve Morell was able to join us.
From his home in New York, Zachery Allan Starkey presented a gritty reality on his 2020 album ‘Fear City’ with observations on the Covid crisis and the rise of the extreme right around the world but in the USA in particular.
It was a product of the times and its title track in collaboration with Bernard Sumner of NEW ORDER captured an appropriate dystopian tension using hooky electronics and club-friendly beats. With an expanded physical edition of ‘Fear City’ on the way, Zachery Allan Starkey has released a new single ‘Solitaire’ to bring the narrative of the album into an equally uncertain 2022.
Despite the toppling of Donald Trump since its release and the availability of vaccines, ‘Fear City’ is still very relevant with Vladmir Putin now wanting to play at being Napoléon in Eastern Europe, partly thanks to the likes of veiled fascists such as the former 45th president of the USA, the Lord Haw-Haw of the 21st Century Nigel Farage, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and various political organisations having turned a blind eye to his dictatorial antics while tub thumping on his behalf in lieu of millions in rubles. All this as his cronies and oligarchs accquired interests in property, football clubs, F1 teams, newspapers, TV stations, tech companies and financial institutions!
But while ‘Fear City’ was observational from a wider perspective, ‘Solitaire’ is much more personal, dealing with the anxiety of isolation and solitude, accompanied by electro house rhythms and swirling symphonic synth. The nocturnal ‘Solitaire’ music video was directed by Steven Celestin and captures segments of Starkey trapped in his own dystopian hell around the Brooklyn community districts of Bushwick and Bedford–Stuyvesant.
Starkey said: “I’ve had a hard life, so I’ve become a very isolated, solitary person, and I wrote ‘Solitaire’ about embracing my feelings of isolation and solitude and being empowered by them, rather than saddened… I view it as a positive song, but I wrote ‘Solitaire’ as a way to deal with my own heavy feelings of isolation and depression, as well as my increasing difficulties with connecting to other people.”
With these deeper feelings, Starkey has taken a new approach to vocals. Having recovered from Covid himself, he experienced a dissociated haze of insomnia and depression, the fallout of which is now reflected visually in surreal images of enforced urban entrapment.
Meanwhile, director Celestin added: “Solitude is nothing and everything: sometimes restorative, sometimes destructive. The visual expression of this piece aims to convey both at the same time. At once one is hopeful and driven, at times one is distant and listless. These relatable emotions coalesce in the dreamlike expression of wander, or dérive.’Solitaire’ to me is an expression of dérive; to drift through the varied ambiance of urban society. The appearance of this is built on the backs of people much smarter than us, but is ultimately an acknowledgement. What is new is old.”
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