Marie Davidson & l’Œil Nu return with ‘Persona’ a brand new three-part single and video, released today on Bonsound and Ninja Tune, with a run of forthcoming live-performances also announced. Alongside this is news that the original trio of Marie Davidson, Pierre Guerineau, Asaël R. Robitaille are now joined by close-friend and long-time collaborator, composer and producer Jesse Osborne-Lanthier (raster-noton, Haunter Records, Éditions Appærent)—who co-produced and performed additional vocals and sound design on their ‘Renegade Breakdown’ album—to play percussions, synths and electronics on the new track.
Marie Davidson & l’Œil Nu’s ‘Persona’ is a play on the concepts originally attributed to the Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung, which are used to describe the roles we play in order to adapt and fit in to the environment or society around us, often at the expense of being our authentic selves. Alongside the lyrics—sung entirely in French—the band present three distinct ‘faces’ to the record, “one electronic, one fully guitar oriented and one that can be played in loop, for drifting away,” they explain. “We had a lot of fun recording this music and we hope you’ll enjoy.”
Alongside this comes an official video, made up of the band’s own footage, which follows them over the course of an imagined day spent travelling, relaxing and playing shows. As the band explain it, “we wanted to play with the idea of counterpoint to the Jungian persona archetype (“the mask we wear to make a definite impression upon others and conceal the true nature of the individual”) referenced in the lyrics, we didn’t want a sophisticated and expensive HD music video depicting us as glamorous artists evolving with nonchalance in a highly controlled environment. But rather we wanted to offer a simple and honest document, shot ourselves with our phones, showing us as individuals, friends, musicians, in our daily lives, à l’envers du décor.”
The release follows a run of recent remixes from Tim Hecker, Young Marco, Jessy Lanza, Jlin and Morgan Geist, with tracks all taken from their ‘Renegade Breakdown’ album project, released last year on Bonsound and Ninja Tune. That record—a bold reimagining of Marie Davidson’s sound—was praised widely by the likes of The Guardian, Pitchfork and The New Yorker, with Bandcamp listing it as one of their “Best Albums of Summer” and additional support from FADER, Billboard, DAZED, Vulture, NME and many more. This followed Marie’s previous solo album, 2018’s acclaimed ‘Working Class Woman’—which was also accompanied by a series of curated remixes from Nina Kraviz, John Talabot, Afrodeutsche, Silent Servant and including a notable, Grammy-nominated Soulwax remix of ‘Work It’, which would go on to become a bonafide dance anthem that still receives heavy rotation both on and off the turntables to this day
Following an incredible debut livestream for ‘Renegade Breakdown Live’—shot and directed by experimental Quebecois filmmaker Denis Côté, and described by NME as “less a livestream gig, more a musical rebirth” in their 4/5 review. The group will be heading out on tour later this year across the UK, EU and Canada, including some headline shows in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
Ahead of this they will also take part in Berlin’s online PopKultur Festival, which takes place this week and will feature a performance from the band entitled ‘Persona & Other Fiends’. Midway between a live-performance and a music video, ‘Persona & Other Fiends’ is a musical and visual triptych of 3 songs: “Persona”, “Center of the World (Kotti Blues)”, and “Renegade Breakdown”, directed by Clara L’Heureux-Garcia and filmed at Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango recording studio in Montreal. In keeping with the themes of the single, this hybrid document will explore in an intimate and performative manner the relation between stage and image of Marie Davidson & L’Œil Nu.
Marie Davidson & l’Œil Nu Tour 2021
Aug 25-28 – Berlin, DE – PopKultur (ONLINE)
Sept 4 – Rouyn-Noranda, QC – FME
Oct 8 – Montreal, QC – La Tulipe
Oct 14 – Ottawa, ON – Club SAW
Oct 15 – Toronto, ON – The Axis Club
Oct 20 – Zurich, CH – Bogen F
Oct 21 – Düdingen, CH – Bad Bonn
Oct 23 – Luxembourg, LU – La Rotonde
Oct 24 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
Oct 26 – Brussels, BE – La Rotonde
Oct 27 – Paris, FR – La Boule Noire
Oct 28 – Vendome, FR – Les Rockomotives
Oct 29 – Lille, FR – L’Aéronef
Oct 30 – Brighton, UK – The Arch
Oct 31 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
Nov 2 – Manchester, UK – YES
Nov 3 – London, UK – Village Underground
Nov 5 – Reykjavík, IS – Iceland Airwaves
Nov 7 – Berlin, DE – Volksbühne
