Marie Davidson – City of Clowns
Marie Davidson’s City of Clowns melds dark industrial beats with biting lyrics to challenge the grip big tech has on our lives
With companies like Google and Meta harvesting our data for profit and AI-driven automation threatening job security, tech anxiety is at an all-time high. Inspired by Shoshana Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Montreal producer Marie Davidson places this unease at the core of her latest album. Opener Validations Weight plays like an infomercial for a dystopian future where our privacy is traded for the illusion of collective enhancement, setting the stage for the relentless techno throb of Demolition, where Davidson’s deadpan delivery mirrors AI’s indifference: 'I don’t want your cash, all I want is you / I want your data!'
Elsewhere, Statistical Modelling probes how algorithms manipulate human behavior, while Fun Times explores how tech’s constant demands on our attention have eroded our ability to be present in the moment. These songs land on the right side of silly-serious, combining sledgehammer-subtle vocals with a feverish commitment to the tension-release cycles of the dancefloor, making hooks like 'Time is never coming back / What you choose you might lose / Wake up or go back to snooze' feel rousing, not ridiculous. Redirecting the euphoric energy of the club toward creative ends, City of Clowns is a rallying call for a more humane digital future.
Listen to: Demolition, Sexy Clown, Fun Times