The magical world of Montaigne has arrived in the form of the singer/songwriter's new album, making it! The Australian art-pop artist's layered project features collaborations with Talking Heads' David Byrne and Maika Loubte, amongst the synth-fuelled surreal production. Montaigne is an artist with a lot on their mind, so we delved deeper into the album with them and picked their clever brain on politics and changing the world:

Congratulations on the release of your brilliant album! We love it. How do you feel now that it’s out in the world? 

“thank you so much! i feel really great, in past by the time an album has come out i’ve lost all perspective of its quality because i listened to it to death so with this one i tried to give it a bit of breathing room so i’m still really enjoying the tunes, and if i’m able to then others should be able to! and they are. the reception has been wonderful & people are connecting with it really powerfully. it’s all i could ask for.”

How do you think you evolved on this album?

“in so many ways! lots has changed since i was 22, which is when much of my last album was written and recorded. i’m 27 now! it’s been five years, holy fuck. falling in love & staying in love with my now-partner has shaped me greatly, has i think made me more stable, though also more aware of the ways in which i am completely afraid of the world, and i think that’s come through unintentionally in the album. the style of the music has obviously changed a lot too, which is part working solely with dave hammer for the first time on a complete body of work, but also from my musical interests diving into new waters. and then my voice — i really wanted to use it in totally new ways, inspired by aldous harding who ekes out every possible shape and tone from her voice across her records.”‍

You’ve said your idea of success has changed from being ‘big’ to wanting to make music forever, help people, manage your anxiety. What do you think influenced this change?‍

“again, being with pat has really helped me revise and enhance my politics & the things i care about most are solidarity & creativity & people living lives they enjoy, that has rest and leisure built in, as well as work. i think the best people in this world are those trying to help people be together better, either professionally or personally…celebrity feels extremely extraneous and individualistic to me, that’s my least favourite part of music as a business endeavour. i don’t need to be massive, nobody does, i just want to be able to pay my bills & for holidays or a nice dinner out with friends & to still be able to do music or other art projects until i’m old. the difficulty is that the people with money only really want to pay you if you aspire to eternal growth…it’s tricky."

‍The album is preoccupied with death, as you've mentioned, and also the cosmos, apocalyptic feelings. Where was this inspiration coming from?

“I didn’t notice until after the record was done, but the word “die” is mentioned like, a disproportionate number of times?? die b4 u…sickcrydie…comet death…without noticing i’d written all these really morbid songs, and i’ve now realised that i am quite anxious about death and loss. i get regular, intense, intrusive thoughts which i struggle with quite a bit. it stops me from doing fun things out with friends sometimes, it makes me worry about pat constantly when i’m away…it also guides me towards this optimism about human beings, that we have the drive to help each other, that we care when others get hurt, or when we lose them, that in the face of something terrible and grand we can’t help but think of each other. we’ve always been preoccupied with the stars above us, because they are so much larger and largely unknowable — it’s deeply human to muse and theorise about greater powers or forces. i think this album’s speaking to the human condition, i called it “making it!” partly to allude to our ability to create and invent and imagine, and i think our relationship to the cosmos is intertwined with imagination.”

How do you hope people feel listening to it? What do you hope that they take away from it?

“I hope people feel reflected in it! i think because it’s idiosyncratic it’s only going to speak to certain people and i hope those people feel seen.”

You’re a self described nerd - do you think your love for video games and sci fi influence your sound?

“definitely! the soundtracks for kingdom hearts and final fantasy are embedded in my creative consciousness. i don’t know how much that manifests in this album though it definitely will in future work, now that i’m directing production myself. there’ve also been a tonne of references to video games in my songs in the past, and in making it! there are several more.”‍

You also touch on being into politics. Does this play into your songwriting?

"i feel like i’ve addressed it a bit in earlier questions! though to elaborate, like, i’m a leftist. my belief is that capitalism is a blight upon the earth that makes the rich deranged and makes the poor suffer immensely, that capitalism needs to be replaced, that that should be achieved through solidarity, that colonialism and imperialism is wretched, that so many things in the world need to be changed & that the change should be driven by the ideas & imagination & union of the working class. i think in one way or another that definitely factors into my songwriting, if not the specific political ideology then at least the ethos behind it.”

You worked with some cool artists on this project. Who else is on the Montaigne dream collaboration bucket list? 

“björk is the next dream, though i don’t know how likely that is…i’ll still believe in it though…but more locally! i want to & already have worked with a bunch of artists i really love like lonelyspeck, katie dey, nick ward, ninajirachi, donatachi…there’s a couple japanese artists like kaho nakamura & cero that i’d love to do something with, whatever that looks like. doing a vocal performance for mondo grosso would be sick! omg hikaru utada or sheena ringo…imagine…but yeah, there are so many people i’d love to collaborate with.”

What change would you wish to see in the world?

"i'd love to see the wealthy hoard wealth less. there are so many business people or people with money and power who would hide from the end of the world rather than prevent it. i'm grateful my friends are people who believe in the power of solidarity. there isn't anything to be gained from a "me against the world" perspective except for loneliness and self-corruption."

What’s next?

“I’m working on new music already! whatever that ends up being…maybe another album…we’ll see where it takes me — i’m also performing in holding achilles at the moment which might get more runs after brisbane festival! we’ll see. i really want to do more work in the video games industry though the demand for songwriters isn’t immense…would definitely try my hand at composition. the game i did write on stray gods will be out at some point, not sure when. and i have tour in october for making it! which i’m excited about.”

Listen to making it! here.

@actualmontaigne