Pop music in disguise
What’s the deal? As Foxtrott, one-woman Montréalaise electro-band Marie-Hélène Delorme makes some of the most deliciously inventive pop music coming out of Canada at the moment.
Since Delorme tends to operate by her own internal set of rhythmic and sonic rules, however, it takes some prolonged exposure to realize what an exceptional (and exceptionally tuneful) level of pop songwriting lies behind all those teeth-juddering basslines, uneasy synth squiggles and big ’n’ crunchy beats. The thread tying it all together? Delorme’s passionate, versatile voice, which supplies both 2012’s Shields EP and last year’s exceptional debut LP, A Taller Us— released via the U.K.’s esteemed One Little Indian label, not coincidentally the home of Björk — with an unerring source of melody even when the backing tracks are little but a heaving, deconstructionist feeling of great weight. Good to give Grimes and St. Vincent a run for their money. Sum up what you do in a few simple sentences. Says Delorme: “Warm, fat, melodic. Aiming for my production and singing to coexist on the same level of importance, nothing being an afterthought. Singing from my stomach, writing from the heart, while making heads bob.” What’s a song I need to hear right now? “Shaky Hands.” A well-camouflaged pop hit charged with bile and low-end beastliness. Heavy like a mastodon. No accident the video takes place in a quarry.
See bit.ly/shakyfox. Where can I see her play? At the Garrison on Feb. 12 with Calvin Love, Keita Juma, Programm and Organ Mood as part of the Wavelength Music Festival.