electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
group formed in 2010. Based in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, the group consists of wife-and-husband duo
Marie Davidson
Marie Davidson (born 1987) is a French-Canadian electronic musician and producer from Montreal.
Career
Davidson was part of the duo Les Momies de Palerme, along with Xarah Dion. Their album, ''Brûlez ce coeur'', was released on Constellation Re ...
and Pierre Guerineau.
History
The duo formed in the summer of 2010, releasing a guitar-oriented four-song cassette EP in the following year on their own Téméraire Records. Their following releases, a 2012 split with Hobo Cubes and ''Tout est jeune'' EP, showcased an electronic-oriented sound. In 2013, Malditos Records and Teenage Menopause Records co-released the compilation ''Nuit de noce'', which featured the tracks from the previous cassettes, as well as an unreleased track, in vinyl format. A split EP with Police des moeurs and the 7" single "Danse sociale" were issued in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
In 2016, Essaie pas released its debut studio album, ''Demain est une autre nuit'', on
DFA Records
DFA Records is an American independent record label founded in 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. They previously had a production team called The DFA, consisting of Goldsworthy and ...
. The album was longlisted for
2016 Polaris Music Prize The 2016 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 19, 2016 at The Carlu event theatre in Toronto, Ontario. Its follow-up record, ''New Path'', was announced in early 2018 and was released on DFA later that year. An accompanying music video for the album track, "Complet Brouillé" was also produced. In 2019, the band issued ''Earth'' EP, which they regarded as "a tribute to late 1990s, early 2000s pop trance tracks."
Musical style and lyrics
Essaie pas's music has been described as
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
synth-pop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...
and
cold wave
A cold wave (known in some regions as a cold snap, cold spell or Arctic Snap) is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air. Specifically, as used by the U.S. National Weather Service, a cold wave is a rapid fall in tem ...
. Considered to be among the "contemporary groups reviving the
DIY
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...
minimal synth
Minimal wave is a broad classification of music that comprises obscure, atypical examples of genres such as new wave, stripped-down electronic or synthesizer music, synth-pop, post-punk, and coldwave. Most of the music tends to focus on elect ...
sound of the 70s and 80s," the band combines "dark, minimal synth pop,
French pop
French pop music is pop music sung in the French language. It is usually performed by singers from France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, or any of the other francophone areas of the world. The target audience is the francophone market (primar ...
,
Italo-disco
Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the early 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, p ...
, and elements of horror movie soundtracks." Their lyrics, spoken and sung both by Davidson and Guerineau largely in French, feature themes such as loneliness, sexuality, and fantasy. The band's sophomore album, ''New Path'' drew on the themes of "personal ground, on
addiction
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...
, loss and the lingering strength of identity within late
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
’s
mass media
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit information ...
paranoia."
The band's debut, ''Demain est une autre nuit'' was compared to "
Giorgio Moroder
Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance mu ...
and
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...
film scores as well as the
industrial
Industrial may refer to:
Industry
* Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry
* Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems
* Industrial city, a city dominate ...
synth pop of
Chris & Cosey
Chris & Cosey, sometimes known as Carter Tutti, are a musical duo formed in 1981, consisting of couple Chris Carter (electronics) and Cosey Fanni Tutti (electronics, guitar, cornet), both previously (and currently the sole surviving) members o ...
," as well as Davidson's
minimal wave
Minimal wave is a broad classification of music that comprises obscure, atypical examples of genres such as new wave, stripped-down electronic or synthesizer music, synth-pop, post-punk, and coldwave. Most of the music tends to focus on elect ...
solo work. The band's sound also drew comparisons to the early
Human League
The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...
darkwave
Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...
acts such as
Xeno & Oaklander
Xeno & Oaklander is an American electronic music group formed in 2004, consisting of musicians Sean McBride and Liz Wendelbo. Originating from Brooklyn, the band is considered to be among the cold wave revival scene of the 2000s and 2010s.
Histo ...
and
Cold Cave
Cold Cave is the moniker for the music of Wesley Eisold, described as a "collage of darkwave, noise, and synthpop." A number of reviewers note the affinity with early 1980s post-punk and early synthpop, in particular Joy Division and New Orde ...
. ''New Path'', which featured "English and French lyrics,
techno
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...
beats and fear-inducing soundscapes," was heavily influenced by
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928March 2, 1982), often referred to by his initials PKD, was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his l ...
's 1977 novel, ''
A Scanner Darkly
''A Scanner Darkly'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, published in 1977. The semi-autobiographical story is set in a dystopian Orange County, California, in the then-future of June 1994, and includes an extensive ...
'' and borrows its title from the book.
Discography
;Studio albums
* ''Demain est une autre nuit'' (2016)
* ''New Path'' (2018)
;EPs
* ''Essaie pas'' (2011)
* ''Liaisons dans la nuit / Le fruit des solitudes'' (2012; split with Hobo Cubes)
* ''Tout est jeune'' (2012)
* ''Police des moeurs / Essaie pas'' (2014; split with Police des moeurs)
* ''Demain est une autre nuit (The Remixes)'' (2016)
* ''New Path (The Remixes)'' (2018)
* ''Earth'' (2019)
;Singles
* "Danse sociale" (2015)
* "Futur parlé" (2017)
;Compilation
* ''Nuit de noce'' (2013)