Oh, the crude irony of people using phones for everything except, uhm, phone calls. This novel form of circumventing direct communication takes center stage on Annie-Claude Deschênes‘ new single “PHONES”, the latest look at her debut LP LES MANIÈRES DE TABLE. On this infectious midtempo electropop tune – in the style of Belgian greats Soulwax –, the Montreal-based artist uses audio stuttering and commonplace sound effects in anxiety-inducing effects. The screws tighten and tighten until “PHONES” unfolds into a more skeletal and volatile industrial sound.
A simple dinner reservation suddenly feels like the most daunting task on earth, and introverts-for-life can certainly relate. According to the press release, the track is “a reflection on the absurdity of good manners that sometimes lead us to rigidity and over-politeness. The robotic rhythms, made from interference noises and ringtones, punctuate the conversation while the repetitive bass line accentuates this hymn to alienation.”
Though the fraught is palpable as the noises mount, Deschênes never abandons a sense of fun on “PHONES”, which follows up previous single “MENACE MINIMALE”. LES MANIÈRES DE TABLE is out somewhere this spring via labels Italians Do It Better and Bonsound.
Check out the visualizer for “PHONES” below and find the song on streaming outlets.
Annie-Claude Deschênes will play the following dates in Canada this spring.
April 26 – PHI Centre, Montreal, QC
May 2 – Club Saw, Ottawa, ON
May 10 – CEM, Chicoutimi, QC
May 11 – Pantoum, Québec, QC
