Femme En Fourrure and the MTV Diet

Femme En Fourrure is a Finnish dance music duo that makes surreal, provocative music and draw inspiration from unlikely sources. Their moniker loosely translates to "woman in fur" and stems from an interest in creating imaginary characters. Members Sandra Tervonen and Juuso Malin say that these imaginary, fictitious beings inspire each song they create. "Channeling imaginary characters in various shapes, moods, and situations is essential. To us, every song is a character of its own. Sometimes the music builds itself around the character, sometimes it's the other way around, and [in the end] the music creates a personality," says Tervonen.

Since 2008, the project has gone through a metamorphosis of various musical directions, styles, and members, but for the past couple of years Femme En Fourrure has been predominantly a duo. Distorted vocals, dissonant melodies, and sultry, repetitive lyrics are the benchmarks of their genre-defying sound.

Both Tervonen and Malin were raised on a steady diet of music television and remain influenced by their childhood fascinations. "I spent my youth in front of MTV during the '90s and listened to The Prodigy over and over on cassette during elementary school," says Malin. Tervonen's situation was similar. "During my childhood and early teens, I also spent my time watching MTV instead of practicing for my piano lessons. Madonna's 'Ray of Light' was probably my favourite when I was ten years old." Fast-forward to today, and the duo name expressive vocals, dystopian techno, and contemporary rap music as their musical preferences.

Femme En Fourrure released their dark debut album 36-26-36 in 2013 via Convex. Their sophomore effort on Cocoa Music, the Smell EP, consists of three original compositions as well as a remix by Inga Copeland and will be available this May. Smell makes it clear that the duo plan on growing musically while still remaining true to themselves and their sound. "Even though it's only three new original songs, the release took over a year to put together. It's a labour of love, something that evolved in different directions along the way. We road tested it performing live in different countries and took cues from those experiences," explains Malin. "Juuso and I both feel that our work is only now starting to bloom and it shows on this one," adds Tervonen. The aptly named "Blossom", is ambient and synth-heavy with techno elements and a bass undercurrent. You can listen to it above.

The remainder of 2015 will undoubtedly be busy for Femme En Fourrure. "We've produced for a Finnish artist named Paperi T and we're doing live shows together as a band. It has been relaxing and different. We have quite a booked schedule at the moment, but we're finishing some new Femme En Fourrure ideas along the way," says Juuso.

With their explorative, sexually charged electronic, Femme En Fourrure are pushing the boundaries of modern day dance music. Stay tuned.

Femme En Fourrure's Smell EP is out May 8 on Cocoa Music.

Femme En Fourrure are on Twitter // SoundCloud // Facebook