Albums of the Year 2025: #50

Canadian DJ-producer Marie Davidson releases her sixth studio album City Of Clowns, made in collaboration with Soulwax and Pierre Guerineau (Essaie pas, L’Œil Nu, Feu St-Antoine), via Soulwax’s own Deewee label.

Earlier this year, Davidson debuted on the legendary Deewee imprint with her single “Y.A.A.M. (Your Asses Are Mine),” reuniting with the Belgian powerhouse Soulwax, who previously reworked Davidson’s acclaimed “Work It” anthem. Her all-out blistering club cut “Contrarian” soon followed, evoking Davidson's heavier output.

City Of Clowns marks a return to the club – but not as you know it. The techno thump and scathing spoken-word delivery of Working Class Woman resurface at points, but the pop structures and melodic sensibilities of Renegade Breakdown also remain. It’s a “strange” sonic blend even by Davidson’s own standards.

“It’s definitely linking back to what I was doing pre-pandemic, but with a bit of an evolution,” she says. “I didn't want to just repeat myself.” The sound and the spirit of the album are shaped, too, by the fact that Davidson has a new antagonist. This time it’s not club culture that’s coming for her sense of self, it’s Big Tech.