Tag Archives: Mute

Interview

HAAi Contemplates the Future of Humans and Machines on HUMANiSE

Haai Humanise press photo by Sophie Webster
Photo: Sophie Webster

It’s an unusually muggy September afternoon in Los Angeles and HAAi (aka Teneil Throssell) is in town for a brief stay in between gigs in Miami and Washington D.C. “This city has been really kind to me with support, with everything,” she says, mentioning that she was planning a free pop-up party in town with her friend, Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa, during her stay. At the moment, though, we’re talking about HUMANiSE, the album that HAAI was readying for release. By now, you might have heard it. HUMANiSE came out on October 10 via Mute.

For her sophomore full-length, HAAi considers the rapidly-evolving connection between humans and machines. She describes her relationship with technology as fickle. “It’s one of those things that I’m fascinated by and terrified by it at the same time, like, I think, most people,” the London-based DJ, producer and singer says as we chat in the lobby of a downtown hotel. 

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New Music

Fever Ray Refreshes Classics and More on The Year of the Radical Romantics

Fever Ray The Year of the Radical Romantics

The only time I’ve seen Fever Ray live was at Coachella in 2010 and, even then, I only caught part of their set sometime on the first night of the festival after I had already decided that I was over Coachella and the only thing that might ever get me back is The Smiths reunion that I estimated would be announced the day after hell freezes over. All that said, I don’t really have a true concert experience to compare to The Year of the Radical Romantics, the new, live-ish album from Fever Ray, but that’s probably for the best. 

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Interview

‘Intergalactic Dance’ Diva Ora the Molecule Has a Message for the Dance Floor

Ora the Molecule Nora Schjelderup press photo by Jonathan Kvien
Ora the Molecule Photo: Jonathan Kvien

It’s early, at least by club standards, on a Thursday night in mid-May, but the dance floor at El Cid is poppin’. On stage, Ora the Molecule flits between the synthesizer that sits on a table cloaked in glittery fabric and a theremin off to the side of her. When she looks down at the synthesizer, beams of light shoot from her disco ball helmet towards the crowd. Dressed in a red jumpsuit with matching gloves and boots, Ora the Molecule looks like a space disco diva who has just arrived on Earth. Few, if any, people in the crowd can resist her intergalactic groove. 

When Nora Schjelderup, the singer and producer behind Ora the Molecule, and I connect for a video call a couple weeks later, I tell her that the show reminded me of sci-fi disco performances from 1970s European variety shows that I’ve seen floating around online.

“Yes!” she responds through laughter. “That’s exactly what I’m aiming for.”

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New Music

Breton Singer and Producer Quinquis Channels Mermaid Lore on eor

Quinquis eor album cover Mute Records

Breton singer, musician and producer Quinquis just released her latest album, eor, on Mute Records and it’s exquisite. Inspired by mermaid lore and made with modular synthesizers, eor will have you imagining tales filled with fantastic beings, set against against gray skies and cold, tumultuous seas. This isn’t TikTok-friendly mermaidcore, this is something darker, richer and altogether more interesting. 

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