The Dø's Olivia Merilahti: "I'm Comfortable With The Term 'Pop'"

La Roux may have finally resurfaced with Trouble In Paradise, but others have long advanced their electro-pop cause. CHVRCHES have given the music a post-industrial sheen. And now The Dø, originally an eccentric, folksy indie-pop combo, are revelling in euphoric electro on their third foray, Shake, Shook, Shaken. They even “banned” guitars.

As such, the Parisian duo have been transformed into an epic pop outfit, summoning New Romanticism (the key single Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy), vintage Goldfrapp (the nu-renaissancey Lick My Wounds) and Grimes (the ethereal Miracles (Back In Time)). Shake… has already entered the French Top 10.

The French Dan Levy and Finnish Olivia Merilahti, both musos, came together when they found themselves soundtracking Chris Nahon’s murky supernatural crime movie Empire Of The Wolves (they’d also score contemporary ballet).

The pair subsequently established The Dø as a band with 2008’s A Mouthful, entailing the cult On My Shoulders. The album topped the French charts and Merilahti emerged as a beguiling frontwoman in the tradition of Björk. The Dø’s follow-up, Both Ways Open Jaws, materialised in 2011. Along the way, they commissioned remixes from cred club names like Mylo, Trentemøller and Vitalic.

The Dø previously visited Australia in 2009 for the last year of the ill-fated V Festival (where, ahem, Vanilla Ice was an implausible retro hit). The triple j faves will now head 2015’s So Frenchy So Chic series in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide alongside Émilie Simon. Their Opposite Ways features on the accompanying compilation. Ooh la la.

Merilahti, in the midst of a European tour, can’t wait to remove her wintry scarf and gloves.

Watch: The Dø – Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy

Music Feeds: The Dø has a new album, and you’re coming to Australia this summer. But you were first here some years ago for V Festival. What do you remember?

Olivia Merilahti: It was a great experience for us. We met The Kills at the V Fest at the time and we’ve kept in touch since then. So it was a good experience. We would have liked to do that festival again. It’s a shame it’s no longer there.

MF: Shake, Shook, Shaken is very different to anything you’ve done before. What prompted you to make an electronic record?

OM: Well, I guess it started with the necessity of wanting to compose on the road. My only solution to really start recording demos was to have a tiny MIDI keyboard and my laptop with Pro Tools and whatever it was, a few virtual instruments. And that’s how it started. Then it kinda became an artistic desire — it was interesting to explore the in-the-box possibilities. We wanted to embrace those possibilities and then all the sounds that we could have virtually — kind of digitally. It’s just something we had in our ears.

Also at some point we had to tour abroad without a drummer, so we started working with drum machines – and it happened to be a really interesting and logical thing for our music. It’s a natural progression for us, and we also like to redefine our sound. It’s just that what’s been done before, it’s done… But it’s still the both of us in the studio, working like crazy.

MF: Dan has mentioned that you got into “aggressive techno” while recording this album. I can’t hear that influence! What exactly were you listening to?

OM: I’ve always been in love with hip-hop and, on this [album], I really listened to a lot of American hip-hop mostly – and Die Antwoord was also an influence. I think we were just looking for some energy. There was an energy that we wanted to reach with this album. It was never really something we questioned before but, for this one, we wanted something faster and stronger and more massive. But it’s still kind of more sentimental songs with my voice on top. These are challenges that we like to work with. Kanye West is a big influence, definitely. We were in the middle of the recording process and Yeezus gave it a good kick, [for us] to push things further. It was inspiring.

MF: There’s some very interesting pop music now – and it’s hard to say what’s pop and what’s experimental. Do you consider The Dø a pop band? And are you comfortable with the term ‘pop’?

OM: I’m totally comfortable with the term ‘pop’. I also think we’re an indie band in the sense that we’re independent and we do things in our studio without the help of almost [any one]. No one [else] is really involved in those months of recording. Just in the end we had [engineer] Fab Dupont working on the mix.

So, in that sense, we’re indie, but not in a musical sense, because I think that doesn’t really mean anything any more, either. ‘Pop’ to me is good because I don’t want to get too intellectual about it all and, especially for this [album], we wanted to keep it really centred around the pleasure of melody and the pleasure of music catching you in a very strong emotional way.

I would also see us as experimental because we expand things. We always try to do things we’ve never done before but, then, I think it’s more subjective than the ‘real’ experimental music where people actually invent new ways and new sounds. I don’t know. We’re somewhere in between!

Listen: The Dø – Miracles

https://soundcloud.com/thedo/miracles

MF: How does the new material work live? Do you do some of your older songs as well?

OM: Yes, we play a few, but not so many, so I hope the Australian audience won’t mind if we play most of the songs from the new album!

MF: Do you have a favourite song on the record? Or one that you particularly enjoy performing live?

OM: I love performing Sparks and Opposite Ways… I mean, we’ve extended those two tracks on stage and I have my singing moments and playing… I have my diva moments! I’m having fun (laughs).

MF: You’re playing So Frenchy So Chic In The Park, which celebrates contemporary French music. But you’re Finnish. What would a Finnish music festival be like?

OM: I must admit I’m not very good in referring to Finnish music. I’m terrible, because I know more about Swedish bands than Finnish bands. I should be ashamed!

MF: You and Dan have worked on soundtracks in the past. Are you still pursuing those kind of projects?

OM: Well, it’s something we liked to do at the time, but maybe now we’re kind of attached to such freedom with The Dø that it’s not always easy for us to adapt to a director’s wishes and directions. Sometimes it can be a hindrance that we’re not really used to any more (laughs). But working for contemporary dance was a lot more open-minded and uninhibited. However, we’re always considering [projects] when we have offers. I think it’s just we’re being a little more selective about what we do.

The Dø return to Australia to play the ‘So Frenchy So Chic’ series alongside Emilie Simon in January – details below. Their third album ‘Shake, Shook, Shaken’ is out now.