Marie Davidson takes inspiration for the ideas for the album from the book ‘Age of Surveillance Capitalism’ by Shoshana Zuboff. This can be heard in lyrics such as ‘I don’t want your cash, all I want is you / I want your data!’ on the second track ‘Demolition’. The world of AI is here.
Marie says
“In the time that has passed [since I read it], people have become more aware of how deep this is, but people have capitulated it a lot too,” she says, “It’s changing the way we live. It’s literally changing our species – the way we interact with each other, and the way we interact with ourselves.”
This is not a warning record about a dystopian future, it’s a reflection on what’s already here. There is also fun to be heard here. On the track ‘Push Me Fuckhead’ Marie delivers lines that we are so familiar with, such as ” Wait until we verify you are not a robot” but ends in the amusing “And bitch / don’t forget to recycle.”
The music is a blend of club, techno beats that back up Marie’s spoken delivery style. Coming together between early 2021 and summer 2024, ‘City of Clowns’ began as a solo project and gradually expanded, as Davidson linked up with co-producer Guerineau as well as Stephen and David Dewaele of Soulwax.
This is a record that blends the heavy ideas of modern technological anxiety underpinned with humour and wit. And the bonus is that if you want to forget that anxiety for a while you can just stick this album on and dance. It’s a win win and we love it. You might too.
Here’s a couple of tasters.
DeClunk 