Canadian electronica producer Marc Houle Announces New Synth Pop Project
Houle’s three piece band, La Folie, are ready with their debut album
La Folie. Photo: Cornelia Thonhauser
We’ve always known Marc Houle as a thorough techno artist and followed his career as an integral part of Richie Hawtin’s M-nus roster of artists. All this until he left the label last year to start a new imprint, along with comrades Magda and Troy Pierce, called Items & Things. Now, we’re eager to see his recently announced venture: A synth pop band called La Folie, which comprises singer-songwriter Joaquim dos Santos, and their newest addition, vocalist Clelia Cantoro. We say newest, because though the formation of the band is recent, Houle and dos Santos have known each other, and even made music together over the last decade. Houle’s 2010 album Drift also featured dos Santos.
When asked why their “nocturnal synth pop” ”“ formally debuting at Berlin’s Berghain Kantine on June 5 ”“ was only breaking for air now, Houle wrote in an email: “We started making tracks maybe 12 or more years ago and just kept recording out of pure love and joy. It took some coaxing from our friends who were big fans of the music to take it to the next level. I suppose the time was finally right to release some music and play out live.” He adds, “I think because I was so busy with my techno career that it was nice to have this as a special studio project with no expectations other than having so much fun making these songs.”
La Folie was named after an old Stranglers track, from 1981, which dos Santos loves. The singer-songwriter explains the moniker: “One day I looked into what it was about and discovered that it was written about a famous case in France in which a Japanese student killed his girlfriend and ate her body because he was insanely in love, hence the meaning of La Folie (which loosely translates as madness of love).” The morbid undertones of that track signify the ethos of the band quite aptly, in dos Santos’ opinion. “The old song had lots of very pretty, warm synths but also a great underlying darkness and it really reminded me of the music Marc and I were working on,” explains dos Santos, noting that their music also had the same tone along with “ ”¦ healthy doses of sadness, darkness, heartbreak, bordering on insanity, both musically and lyrically.”
La Folie has a 12-track album ready, looking for a label to release on and the band’s hard at work prepping for their live show. If all goes well, we should be hearing a lot more from them. And, as Houle says, “Other than that, we’ll be in the studio recording for the next 10 years too.”
Watch “Her New Dress” by La Folie:Â
 A preview to La Folie’s 12-track debut album:Â
