MARIE DAVIDSON & L’Œil Nu- RENEGADE BREAKDOWN
Renegade Breakdown marks the rebirth of Marie Davidson, as she leaves behind the disorientating world of clubs to form new electronic pop band Marie Davidson & L’Œil Nu.
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When Davidson first announced that she was leaving techno music behind, the news was gutting — her last techno album Working Class Woman (2018), is a masterpiece. In retrospect, the break makes sense. Working Class Woman is characterized by the feelings of isolation and anxiety that Davidson was experiencing when touring. It’s the perfect accompaniment to any insomnia-fuelled 4am sonic exploration. The song ‘Workaholic Paranoid Bitch’ perhaps sums up the album most succinctly.
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If Working Class Woman is the sound of insomnia at its peak, Renegade Breakdown is the album for when the first light begins to seep through the curtains. It maintains a distinct night-time feel, a little disorientating, but dreamy and glimmering with hope. Following Davidson’s disillusionment with the club scene, in Renegade Breakdown, she harnesses diverse musical influences to begin her next chapter. “There are no money-makers on this record; I’m exploring the loser’s point of view,” she warns us.
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‘Renegade Breakdown’ is a very successful bridge between Davidson’s old and new styles. The lyrics are both humorous and scathing, a balance that Davidson has often played around with, and that she even references in the song: “My life is anti-strategic/Lying between comic and tragic.” The penetrating beat has a sense of urgency but takes a backseat to the biting lyrics: “How do you come up with such meaningless / Your cheap headlines, your lazy writing / I wonder how it feels for you to sit around all day.
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See article here: https://highwire-magazine.com/2020/09/30/marie-davidson-loeil-nu-renegade-breakdown/
Poppy the android has completed her upgrade: how Poppy established herself as an autonomous individual in I Disagree (More)
On August 14, experimental pop artist Poppy added three more tracks to complete her extended metal-pop album I Disagree (More).
Poppy rose to fame as a YouTuber, with cryptic videos delivered as an android persona with an eerie sweetness, utilising her youthful image. I Disagree (More) marks the ‘upgrade’ or transformation of Poppy from passive android to an autonomous, powerful individual, as she launches a scathing attack on the music industry powers.
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In the original ten-track release of I Disagree, Poppy draws on her previous bubble-gum pop style, fusing it with heavy metal guitar riffs and industrial sounds to create a confronting style. The record is defiant both lyrically and sonically, as she resists the pressures of commercial success, something she references in the lyrics “God speed to the radio star/Stop the beat when they take it too far” (‘Sit/Stay’). Opening track ‘Concrete’ contains the subversively catchy line “cover me in concrete/turn me into a street,” as we see her bury her old self and establish herself as a more influential artist. Poppy demonstrates her full range and lets us know that she will not hold back from experimentation, placing perhaps the most challenging track on the album as the opener. At the same time, the line hints at the treatment of artists in the music industry, creating an image in which people may quite literally “walk all over her.”
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Some of the strongest imagery in the original ten-track release comes during the closer ‘Don’t Go Outside’, as Poppy introduces biblical apocalyptic references: “Amphibians are falling from the sky/ Now is not the time to go outside.” The bridge “everything will be ok” suggests Poppy finding calm amongst the chaos. If Poppy’s comfort in the idea of the world ending was not clear enough, in recent release ‘Khaos x4’, Poppy sweetly sings: “I’m happy that the world is gonna end.” Poppy reminds us that she is no mere mortal, living in fear of hell and apocalypse. However, nor is she the passive YouTube android persona she established herself as. This new Poppy is free to express herself and experiment without consequence- she can change genre every ten seconds if she wants to. In ‘If It Bleeds’, Poppy also references back to ‘Don’t Go Outside’ in the lyrics, “Stupid people follow suit […] /They follow news for what to do,” mirroring the idea that “The TV says you’re out of time/Suck the fear in through your eyes.“ Poppy ridicules those who look to mainstream media for leadership, highlighting her own autonomous, non-conforming identity.
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‘Don’t Ask’ is a mellow close to the often-chaotic album, with dreamy vocals. Poppy references change throughout the closer- “Scenes from yesterday slowly drifting away/How could anything ever be the same?” addressing her personal and musical growth. In the chorus, “Don’t ask me how I’m feeling/There’s nothing to talk about,” Poppy suggests that her music will speak for itself.
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See article here: https://highwire-magazine.com/2020/08/17/poppy-the-android-has-completed-her-upgrade-how-poppy-established-herself-as-an-autonomous-individual-in-i-disagree-more/
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