By Keith Walsh
With  ultra-charismatic vocals and catchy minimalist beats, Eva X’s new single “Machine” is set to become an electro pop sensation. Add to the mix an exhilarating video by Erik Gustafson, and you’ve got an instant classic that defines the best of the North American synthpop underground of the 2020s.

The tune features all the power play theatrics you want in a song about love,  technology, and self-reinvention. From the first line, Eva X sounds a bit like Stacey Q, but that’s just a start. For the rest of the tune she delivers a stunning array of high energy vocal flourishes ranging from Nina Hagen and even Britney Spears.

“Connect me/remake me/erase me/correct me/When I’m a beautiful machine/will you love love me?” From “Machine,” by Eva X.

Working with producers Shane Stephenson and Adam Mah, Eva X is putting the finishing touches on her upcoming album, I Dream Of A Reality. While previous efforts have been darker and more melancholy, “Machine” finds the Canadian/American singer songwriter in full-on sassy mode. I asked her if there were any formative experiences or favorite authors contributing to the perspectives on gender politics in her music.

“That’s a bit autobiographical, “ she said. “So a bit about me. I actually have an engineering degree from the University of Calgary from 7 or 8 years ago now. I don’t read a lot of gender theory – I lived it. On a great day, I was one of two women in the class.” I suggested that Canada is culturally progressive. “Oh very much so,” Eva X said. “Don’t get me wrong – they were wonderful experiences. Even in that…you kind of stick out a bit. And that’s something that you tend to work through and deal with. And even now I’ve worked from 8 to 5 in various firms, and it’s a theme. Generally it’s pretty awesome, but there can be an undercurrent in even the best circumstances they can bubble to the surface. I guess that blends in.”

While “Machine” has some of the dark and melancholy elements of her earlier work, it’s first and foremost a pop song with danceable beats, informed by Eva X’s favorite artists.  “I’m really inspired by a lot of women producers and artists out there,” she said. “I’m a big fan of Bjork, I honestly love a lot of Grimes work.” Halsey, I asked? “I’ve listened to the new album a bit. I really quite like it. As a listener I tend to gravitate to a lot of heavy metal and soundtrack work.”

“A Really Strong Team’
When it came time to recruit someone to do a remix of “Machine,” Eva X asked Dutch electro-industrial  band Grendel, friends of her husband Erik Gustafson, who toured with them in his electro goth band Adoration Destroyed. It’s a very accessible, heavier take on the song with an incredible synth solo (starting at 3:47).

In addition to working with Erik’s company EGCine to produce the video, Eva X asked her talented friends from Canada to work on the album. “When it came time to release the album,” she said, “I knew I wanted it to be something really special, and really huge. So I called up Shane to see if he’d be willing to co-produce with me, and he suggested bringing in Adam as well, to help co-write and produce, and between the three of us I think we have a really strong team. I think ‘Machine’ shows that.”

I asked Gustafson if her work starts at the piano or in the digital studio. “For a lot of the newer songs,” she said, “I moved to constructing things — I construct the instrumentation in individual loops and scenes in Ableton, to start getting my ideas together for what I’m interested in, or what makes sense. The piano comes in later in the process when I have to start picking out my harmonies and vocal lines and really nailing those down.”

With electronic sounds as attractive as these, I wondered how they were achieved. “I’m pretty much 100 percent a VST person,” she said. “I actually sold my last hardware synth last year, because I used it in one song, and haven’t touched it since. So I was like ‘goodbye.’ But I do own a couple controller keyboards, a couple guitars, and a digital piano, all that good stuff.”

Eva X On Bandcamp
Eva X On YouTube
Eva X On Twitter
Eva X On Spotify
Erik Gustafson Cinematography

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