Norwegian Bergen-based Tomine Berge, aka ur Monarch, makes fun vibrant pop music influenced by k-pop and hiphop lyricism. Her previous three singles had great success and the rising alt-pop star is now ready to release her debut EP, pas une blague.
Photo: Øystein Haara
The title, pas une blague, is French and translates to No Joke or Not a Joke. The love of all things French extends to Paris, ur Monarch’s favourite city and dream home. The record deals with all the usual trials and tribulations of growing up... but with an extra dose of quarantined fomo.
ur Monarch says “I think a lot and sometimes it can get too much, which is why the themes of the songs are very different from each other. The thing that ties everything together is that it shows how I’ve felt the last two years, with my plans being cancelled, wanting to ‘start’ my life in a way, and other struggles. Nothing really turned out how I planned it and it’s all there in the EP if you look for it.”
The EP includes ur Monarch’s debut single, human garbage disposal plant (scooter), a moody sad-bop about riding a scooter and realising people aren’t treating you as good as you want them to, the friends-over-money jam moulaga, the fomo-bop kool aid and two new tracks.
One of the tracks that stands out is menstruate. The title is ur Monarch simply owning her own womanhood and being true to her feelings. She says “I've never enjoyed this particular aspect of being a woman, so being able to use it to my advantage by, in a literal sense, menstruating on my enemies, would be a truly empowering thing to do.”
When explaining the song title to other people, they would tell her that she shouldn’t waste her one shot at a music career by just “messing around” making “not-serious” songs. “I found this really weird, because obviously I want to make music on my own terms, but also – why is ‘menstruate’ a worse title than ‘human garbage disposal plant’ or ‘kool aid’? Sometimes it would be nice to just, honestly, bleed it out.”
ur Monarch is being honest, taking no shit, owning her misery, and calling out the haters. Her debut EP, pas une blague, is out now via GEMS / Warner Music Norway.
ur Monarch is ready to take the stage two nights in a row at by:Larm next weekend – Norway's biggest music conference and festival!
コメント