The Experimental Girl Pop of NEW YORK
Interviewing the duo behind the project
People say NEW YORK, the electronic music project of Coumba Samba and Gretchen Lawrence, make ‘experimental’ music. Coumba and Gretchen have a simpler description: ‘girl pop.’ However you describe it, this music makes you want to dance. Incorporating their respective origins in US (Coumba) and Euro (Gretchen) electronic music, NEW YORK’s high-tempo glitchy production provides a contrasting base for their minimal and poetic lyricism. These are club ballads delivered in deadpan.
The duo live in New York, though they used to live in London. We went to their recent show in NY, part of the avant-pop music showcase C2C Festival (other C2C performers included Arca and Elias Bender Rønnenfelt), where they performed to a youthful green strobe-lit crowd in what appeared to be train conductor hats. Everyone danced. When it was over, we caught them outside the venue and asked them a few questions.