Love makes the world go ‘round!
That is what Moscow-based indie electro-pop duo Magnetic Poetry will have you believing as soon as you hear their new single “That’s True, Love,” available now from Lilystars Records.
Everything you need to know about Oksana (vocals) and Dima (guitars) and their musical mission is summed up in two sentences on their website magneticpoetrymusic.com:
“All that you hear now is born solely out of love for each other and desire to create something together. Music – this is our lovechild, an amazing opportunity to shout about love to the whole world.”
Lilystars Records caught up with these Russian love birds to ask them about bringing their charming brand of synth-infused dance beats to all corners of the planet.
First, how does a couple making 80s pop-inspired music get on board with a record label located 8,560 kilometres southwest of them?
“It was so peculiar to get an offer from the label located so far away, but which has distributed so many great international artists,” Oksana and Dima explain.
The appeal was in the label’s approach, which spoke to the couple’s own down-to-earth, DIY philosophy. “It’s really human and Clemen is such a nice guy to deal with – he’s like always there for you. And of course we’d like to travel to Manila one day!”
Currently Magnetic Poetry is not touring but bunking down to get ready to perform live – with just the two of them: “We are working on our program right now trying to make our music to sound more live without involving any new people.”
They aren’t kidding when they say they want to do everything themselves. The video for their new single was shot in Helsinki by just them as a testament to the fact that their music is indeed the product of their love:
“We love each other (aweee) so it’s all that keeps us going, especially music-wise. We like to create everything ourselves and we try not to involve people in the process. So eventually you film and record, and make cover arts yourself – that makes it all meaningful – the creative process inspired by relationship.”
With attitudes like this it’s not hard to believe their music has potential to restore even the most jaded person’s faith in love. Case in point: “That’s True Love,” with Oksana repeating simple lyrics with childlike candour as dreamy synths weave arpeggios around her soothing voice. Lower pulsing basses and dance-beat drumming call to mind such 80s stylings as Cyndi Lauper but also The Cure because of the deceptively simple melodies concealing creative layering.
One Soundcloud listener has also compared them to Canadian experimental dream pop artist Grimes.
The minds behind Magnetic Poetry are flattered by such comparisons and explain their influences: “We always tend to love musicians if we find something in common with them – not the other way round. Conceptually, we always fall in love with all sorts of girl+boy duos, but not necessarily get influenced by them. We have hard times with finding similarities, and (maybe only) for us our music always sounds so unique. We are always getting so alert when working on a track we notice that some part of the song sounds like something we heard somewhere before. We then make fun of each other for accidentally trying to copy some artist’s sound.”
And whom might they accidentally copy? Oksana, who grew up listening to The Beatles with her father, graduated to Brit Pop and other 80’s cassettes belonging to her older brother. But then came “a long-time obsession with J-pop,” she says. Not surprising, considering the Beatles and New Wave roots of this 1990s Japanese genre.
Dima also listened to 80s and 90s music including Ace of Base, George Michael, 80s Russian boy-band Laskoviy May, and German synth-pop duo Modern Talking.
Currently, according to Oksana, they are still listening to 80s but a broad – and very interesting range – from “hardcore italo disco & 80’s hip hop to New Wave and Industrial.”
“I have a huge crush on Savage and the girl-band called Flirts,” she says. “This is really silly but somehow they have all the elements we seek in modern pop music. Also we are huge fans of Kraftwerk – we saw their third show this summer – it totally blew our minds. I cried for about an hour after the show and still get goose bumps when I think about it. This is the essence of dance music and electronica – absolute point.”
Beyond this first single, Magnetic Poetry hopes to release a full album but for now they are happy to start small with a mini album to introduce them to audiences.
Buy Magnetic Poetry’s new single at http://music.lilystars-records.com/track/thats-true-love and iTunes worldwide.