MARCI (from TOPS!) releases 'Immaterial Girl' from her upcoming debut self titled album
03 May 2022
Newsdesk
Marci - the project of TOPS’ Marta Cikojevic - returns with her new single ‘Immaterial Girl’, out on 3 May. The track is the latest instalment from her upcoming debut self titled solo album, set for release on Arbutus Records this summer. Marci also announces a headline tour, including a date at London’s Laylow on 10 August.
Hot off the heels of her ‘80s synthpop-tinged debut single ‘Entertainment’ which premiered on Brooklyn Vegan, ‘Immaterial Girl’ continues in the spirit of music that is catchy and danceable while still being emotionally honest and down-to-earth.
Album cornerstone and the first bonafide banger on a record packed with them, the new single cheekily disavows obsession with the superficial trappings of success - Marci only wants real things, please. “I bet all my love on feeling better,” Cikojevic declares over a funky riff from her trusty Rhodes piano, the warmly familiar sound of which is a driving force all over MARCI.
Alongside an equally playful music video where Marci embodies 80s ‘immaterial girls’ in different guises, she says, “stuck in a trance where money and status rules the world, Immaterial Girl wants what’s true. As greed taunts her, she tries to escape the trapping of such superficial things.”
A great pop record 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 MARCI: a guileless collection of synth pop songs that brim with unabashed sincerity and a whole lot of danceability.
The confidence of Marci's debut solo music 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.
2022-08-10 | London, UK | Laylow 2022-10-08 | Montreal, QC | Diving Bell Social Club 2022-10-10 | Boston, MA | Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre 2022-10-11 | New York, NY | Baby's All Right 2022-10-13 | Chicago, IL | Schubas 2022-10-14 | Detroit, MI | UFO Factory 2022-10-15 | Toronto, ON | Monarch Tavern 2022-11-09 | Los Angeles, CA | El Cid
