MARCI (of TOPS) shares sultry debut solo single 'Entertainment'
30 March 2022
Newsdesk
Marci - the project of TOPS’ Marta Cikojevic - shares her debut solo single, Entertainment, out now on Arbutus Records.
Produced and recorded with her TOPS bandmate David Carriere, ‘Entertainment’ is a song about flirting with fantasy, and the cat and mouse game of lust. It uses an irresistibly ‘80s-tinged mix of synth arpeggios and smooth saxophone runs to emphasise the song’s inherent sense of sensuality.
Speaking of the track, Marci says, “A great pop song is like a great friend: an intimate confidante, a shoulder to cry on, and a partner in crime when you’re ready to get dolled up and dance the pain away under the disco ball (or in front of your bedroom mirror)”. That’s what you’ll find on ‘Entertainment', the debut single from Marci of Montreal soft-rock group TOPS, who steps out on her own in self-assured style.
She continues, “Lyrically, inspiration was felt in the summer air, wanting to flirt with the world and feel the excitement of yourself and others at a time when we couldn't be close to one another. Musically, inspiration came from hearing the drum take from a scrapped Marci song and wanting to create something new with them. Which suits the lyrical theme - chasing excitement, and flirting with the feeling of something new.”
The confidence of Marci's debut single belies the fact that she has never formally written songs before, though she’s been a student of melody since her childhood in rural Ontario. She would sing along to the radio pop divas du jour, perform in the church choir, and participate in piano recitals.
The middle child of five sisters, Marci describes herself as a shy singer at home, who would instead seek out secret spots - the forest behind her home or a broken down van on their property were favourites - to practice her singing and record the songs she would make up herself into a handheld recorder. She was encouraged to do so by her grandfather, a refugee from the former Yugoslavia, who would sing and record both original songs and traditional Croatian folk songs on a cassette dictation machine.
Marci will kick off her debut solo North American tour this Autumn, starting in Montreal on 8th October. Ahead of that, she will be touring Europe with TOPS, including a date at London’s iconic Village Underground on 1st June.
