Dorian Electra’s “Agenda” is full of experimental pop nonsense

CHARACTERISTICSDorian Electra’s “Agenda” is full of experimental pop nonsense By Max Pilley Photos by Lance Williams October 15, 2020

“There are a couple of tracks in this project that I was thinking of – is that audible?”

Dorian Electra sparkles as they say these words. The Los Angeles-based artist knows full well that his music is not made for mass consumption. Before the release of their new LP My agendaElectra pulsates with excitement when she talks about the record’s deliciously disorienting aesthetic. (They refer to the album as a “project,” which perhaps gives an idea of ​​the scope and scope.) The double poles that push and pull at the heart of the record are Electra’s real affection for mainstream pop and her desire to tear it apart distort at the same time.

“The process of taking something traditional, celebrating it, but also criticizing it, dismantling it and exploding it, is just how I see everything, whether it’s fashion or gender or politics or whatever,” explains Electra. “This is my mantra for all of my work, somehow I can’t change it.”

My agenda follows Electra’s debut album Extravagant, released in summer 2019 – how it feels in front of a life. It further expands Electra’s sound palette and integrates elements from metal, techno and baroque pop into an already bombastic mix. Opener “F the World” is a hyperactive playground with the rappers Quay Dash and d0llywood1 as well as the twin brothers The Garden. It’s all hard strobe synthesizers, squelchy beats and defiant messaging that alternate between strikingly clean and super-manipulated vocals. The track “Monk Mode” is what Electra describes as “Monkstep” or a mixture of Gregorian monk chant and dubstep. And that is just the beginning.

Where this desire for sonic experimentation comes from is difficult to determine, but there is no question that for Electra it is just about anything an intellectual pursuit. “What I studied in college was philosophy and the history of science, the story of how we know what we know about the world,” says Electra. “I used to be interested in neuroscience and philosophy of mind. That’s how I always thought about things. I am a very “in my head” person, for better or for worse. ”

That carries over to every facet of Electra as an artist, from her iconoclastic videos and choreographies to her texts, which often address the alienation and corrosive effects of the “manosphere,” an online ecosystem that is overly invested in hegemonic masculinity misogyny is the norm. All of this is meticulously revised Agenda. “Sometimes I wish I could turn my brain off, but it really doesn’t work that way for me. I can’t help but think about all the different levels of meaning that are in it, ”they say. “It can be a blessing and a curse, but I think it mostly just makes me who I am.”

“There’s a ghost that I really have nothing to do with, which is being a troll and doing things just to upset people negatively,” they continue. “What I like is when you can be mischievous, but at the end of the day your purpose is good. I like to think of my music as functional. I like to make people question things about music, I like to put a lot of unexpected elements together. ”

My agenda grew out of two writing camps that Electra put together with a team of employees in early 2020, including British post-EDM producer Count Baldor and Dylan Brady, known as half of 100 Gecs. One session took place in Las Vegas, the other in a castle in Barnstaple, England, which Electra believed would give the recordings a suitably medieval vibe.

“The writing camp method is stressful, but it’s so much fun and perfect for me because I don’t like to sit in a room and limit myself to one idea,” explains Electra. “If I feel blocked, I can run to the next room and come back later.”

This spirit of collaboration is further emphasized by the list of 12 functions My agendaThe 11 tracks – a remarkably varied crew, from Faris Badwan from The Horrors to Rebecca Black, Pussy Riot and the Village People. (The latter two play on the same track. “They were both so excited!” Electra chuckles.)

Electra understands the importance of collaborative support from like-minded artists; It was her breakthrough on Charli XCX’s track “Femmebot” from her critically-loved mixtape 2017 Pop 2That opened the doors for Electra first and helped them settle in LA and focus on making music. As a result of this freedom My agenda is a record that extends into the broadest realms of Electra’s imagination, where the traditional genre barriers that describe popular music as a consumer product dissolve.

„[The division in genres between] Pop and experimental [music has] Obviously it was always a wrong dichotomy, ”says Electra. “I think if you listen to this project it’s all clear without having to say anything.”