Photo by Bella Salvatore

Hailing from Melbourne in Australia, Brigitte Bardini is the latest artist to embrace her dark side having begun as an acoustic singer songwriter.

Moving away from the dreampop and shoegaze of her earlier material like ‘Aphrodite’ and ‘Moving On’ but developing on the airy electronic pop of ‘Heartbreaker’, her new single ‘Start A Fire’ embraces a trancey tension within a shady techno backdrop. With shades in her vocals of Berlin-based producer Ema Jolly aka Emika, ‘Start A Fire’ captures an alluring gothique on top of a gritty dance tempo while simultaneously haunting and melodic.

“My last release, ‘Stellar Lights’, was very band oriented which I found at times unaccessible for a solo artist when it came to scheduling shows.” said Brigitte Bardini of her change in direction following her 2021 debut album. “Since I had all the tools to write, record and produce my own work, I decided I can focus more in a direction that allows flexibility where I could perform with minimal dependence on other factors. This was mainly the mindset that led me into electronic music.”

“I think the ‘darker’ sound came from my exploration into using minimal layers in my production and instead choosing sounds that are strong and sometimes abrasive” she added, “The new darkwave and techno music of the 80s and 90s provided me huge inspiration for this. I was listening to a lot of UNDERWORLD, NEW ORDER, DEPECHE MODE and Gary Numan.”

Written and produced entirely by Bardini, the accompanying video for ‘Start A Fire’ features our heroine as a femme fatale with a day job presenting on a TV shopping channel who has murdered her partner the night before by burning down his house… it is all sinister stuff but visually and aurally absorbing. The stylised rage recalls strong female characters in films like ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Kill Bill’ as well as more recent drama action series such as ‘Warrior’.

“I always found a huge amount of pleasure in experimenting with sound and honing in on the production side of making music” she said of her new sound, “My attraction to abrasive sounds and darker themes, being a huge horror fan, really led me naturally into the dark electronic pop genre for this release. Once I recognised that the ‘dark’ side of music and film became a refuge and a bottomless pit of inspiration, I then knew where to look when I needed ideas which helped to develop a clearer vision in my work”.

Of her future plans, Bardini told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK “I will be releasing another single very soon and there is an album on the horizon. The song releases to come are all electronic and based in exploration of sound and 80s inspired visuals.”

‘Start A Fire’ is released by Ruby Valley Records, available from online platforms including https://brigittebardini.bandcamp.com/track/start-a-fire

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
6 October 2023