Music Industry News

Ōtautahi-based Aotearoa dark-pop star Michèle Ducray has today unleashed her empowering new single ‘MADAME’.

Known for her unique songwriting style that combines mystical with reality, today’s release follows what has already been a whirlwind career for the young artist in the Aotearoa music scene. After a range of successful singles, Michèle released her debut EP THRONE OF MINE in 2023, and saw love from radio and playlists across the motu (The Edge, ZM, Spotify, MTV, Rolling Stone). That same year Michèle brought her quirky stage presence to the main stages at Bay Dreams and Electric Avenue festivals, and played a range of other electric live shows across Aotearoa.

‘MADAME’ is the artist’s eerie and playful new track that draws on Michèle’s real-life experiences with untrustworthy men to create a spell-binding narrative. “This is the story of a philandering traveler that is lured into the trap of a forest-witch, who punishes him for his unruly behaviour,” explains Michèle.

Vulnerably sharing her own experiences in toxic relationships, Michèle hopes that this new single will act as an anthem for anyone who has ever felt betrayed by a partner. “I was in an extremely toxic and abusive relationship,” says the artist, “so this song is for anyone who has had experience with cheating partners or straying situationships. I want them to feel their strength in this song – to get them dancing and embracing their bad side.”

Written in Michèle’s bedroom in Ōtautahi, ‘MADAME’ was recorded, produced, mixed and mastered alongside long-time collaborator Liam Quinn (Peaches PRC, Rita Ora), in Sydney, Australia.

Also released today is a brand new music video, filmed in Bottle Lake Forest, Ōtautahi. Michèle teamed up with friends Hester Roa Photography, who shot the video, and Smokey Divine, who plays the story’s wandering traveler. Edited by Reta Films, the video captures forest-witch Michèle cursing the traveler to see his wrongdoings from a feminine perspective. “It’s very much a vengeful anthem.”

With lots more fantastical storytelling and hook-filled music on the way, ‘MADAME’ is like a new spell being cast by dark-pop star Michèle Ducray on listeners across Aotearoa!

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New Zealand based dark-pop artist Michèle Ducray creates spellbinding songs about fantasy, intertwined with the mystical. Her sound is characterised by a mix of intoxicating vocals, deep drum & bass, and lucid pop melodies for a melancholic yet energetically upbeat immersion of seductive tones. A self-confessed ‘fan of the peculiar’, this is best demonstrated through her enigmatic ‘Peter Pan’ style on stage. Michèle has worked with the likes of Simon Gooding (Dua Lipa, Pink), Pacific Heights (Drax Project, Shapeshifter) and Liam Quinn (Delta Goodrem, Rita Ora) and featured on some of NZ’s most popular radio stations such as The Edge and ZM. Finding success as a 2021 Voyager International Songwriting contest semi-finalist and performing at major festivals including Bay Dreams and Electric Avenue. In 2022 her single ‘Manifesto’ featured on MTV PUSH Australasia, and in 2023 she released her debut EP – with single ‘Psycho’ appearing on the New Music Friday Australasia playlist on Spotify and her VFX music video for ‘Throne of Mine’ filmed in Tokyo, Japan, garnering the rising star a new market of loyal fans – a trend set to continue with her latest release ‘MADAME’!

Photo credit: Hester Roa Photography, Megan Menzies-Pattison