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Music

Christine and the Queens Channels Masculine Energy on "Girlfriend"

The new track from the French musician embraces lush electronics and a new, self-described "macho" vibe.
Lauren O'Neill
London, GB

The hook on Christine and the Queens' new track "Girlfriend" goes like this: "Don’t feel like a girlfriend, but lover, damn, I’d be your lover." It's a smooth, sexy line that's all cigarette smoke and bitten lips, and it's a tone that suits Héloïse Letissier down to the ground.

"Girlfriend" (listen above) sees Letissier moving into slightly new territory – the production is glossy and she enlists G-funk pioneer Dâm-Funk to pay tribute to the sound. It also sees her embracing a new, "macho" swagger: talking about the track in a press release, she said, "I initially set out to smash against macho culture and macho men. I became obsessed with this idea of the macho man, and still being a woman. What does it mean if I’m this figure, and I’m a woman? Does it make me an aberration? Is it joyful?"

If "Girlfriend" is anything to go by, "joyful" is exactly right. The track employs sweeping synths and rhythmic drums to conjure an easy, fun mood which feels closely tied to physicality (try not swaying your hips when you listen). Letissier sums it up best in the press release, where she says, "There are hints of nights spent having sex and coming back covered in sweat. Like a male figure, the young hero who has love stories, and comes back in the morning and his friends are like: “What happened to you?” I want to be that."

Which is, you have to admit, an extremely fucking good mission statement.

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