With a gender twist on the Adam and Eve story, Montreal’s experimental techno musician Marie Davidson offers us the apple of temptation.
This time, the apple is minimalist electronic beats and soundscapes that evoke danger, sexuality and darkness.
And, frequently, her sound has an undeniably killer groove — like on the track “Excès de Vitesse” from Davidson’s upcoming release Un Autre Voyage (out April 15 on Holodeck Records).
“Some of my great inspirations are Klaus Schulze, Giorgio Moroder and techno music,” Davidson tells EW. “I’m very much inspired by music that came out from Detroit such as the work of Juan Atkins, Jeff Mills, Robert Hood. I’m also into Berlin techno.”
On top of luxuriant and mysterious musical fragments and sonic gardens, Davidson recites, incants and repeats snake-y verbal phrases in French and broken English — a sensual, breathy, but ultimately detached siren luring you into a seedy underworld.
To bring up French musician Serge Gainsbourg and partnering chanteuse Jane Birkin at this point might seem like low-hanging fruit, but the comparison is apt.
“It’s hard for me to describe my sound,” Davidson says. “I try not to think about it and focus on creating.”
“All I can say is that I dedicate my life to working with sounds,” she says. “I guess that my music sounds like my soul and my history. I use it to communicate, like words.”
“I think it doesn’t belong to me to put a name on it,” she continues. “Once it’s out there, it doesn’t belong to me anyway.”
Texas’ Boan join Marie Davison 8 pm Wednesday, April 8, at The Boreal, 450 W. 3rd Ave.; $6. All ages.