Martina Sobrara of Dragonette Opens Up About Returning to Beauty on ‘Royal Blues’

Aryeh Harris-Shapiro

Canadian indie stalwarts Dragonette have returned with “Royal Blues,” a new album of emotional synthpop that tugs heartstrings while bringing dancer to their feet. Formed in 2005, the trio has released four full-length albums, earned acclaim worldwide, and established itself as a regular fixture at Canada’s annual Juno awards. Members Martina Sobrara, the singer and songwriter; Dan Kurtz, bass and production; Joel Stouffer, drums. Sobrara recently spoke with Entertainment Voice about returning to her sonic roots on “Royal Blues” and the current political climate.

How are you enjoying your tour so far?

It’s fun! The new show feels really good. We worked really hard on it for a long time, so it feels really good to bring it out in front of the people.

How does touring in the U.S. compare with touring in your native Canada?

I guess the U.S. feels like more of an accomplishment because it’s not our home. We take Canada for granted because it’s home, and there’s a lot of infrastructure to support local bands. There’s a lot of government funding and all that stuff, so when we go to the U.S. it feels more like we’re off the tether and in a place we had to earn ourselves.

You began your career as a solo artist before forming Dragonette. Why did you decide to make that transition?

I was writing songs for my solo project and then Dan and I started writing songs for fun. There was a time where I thought those entities were so different and I operated like that. Like they were two different personalities or something. Slowly I understood that it was all he and I could merge the two emotionally and conceptually. I realized the songs are always coming from the same place. It was more fun to have more input in terms of the vibe of a track, because I was always writing alone by myself until then. It felt like it led down the same path every time I would write a new song, but starting with somebody else, like Dan making a beat or a synth line, I got to jump off from a different place every time.

Dragonette had one of its biggest hits when it collaborated with French DJ Martin Solveig on his 2010 track ‘Hello.’ How did that project happen?

We met at a festival in Australia incidentally, it was the last day of a two-week tour from city to city. He had been playing some songs off ‘Fixin to Thrill’ and I think he was a fan of my voice. We exchanged contact information and we ended up doing a collaboration in Paris on the song “Boys and Girls.” That was really fun and we ended up becoming friends and learned we had a lot in common. So when he started his next record, he sent me the track that became “Hello.” I think he wanted to have a voice that was a thread through the whole record, so I sang a bunch of songs on that album.

Could you tell us about the inspiration behind new record?

I feel like it’s the most emotional album we’ve made. I think we spent so much time jumping around making hyped-up music because of the mood we were in, and I think “Royal Blues” is a little bit of a yo-yo reaction to that. I just wanted to make something more beautiful. That was the starting point, but it still goes all over the place. There are some pretty fun songs on it, but I think ultimately it’s a more melancholy, downbeat album than most of our stuff.

What’s your favorite song off the record?

I really like the title track. It came out so easily, which is always a good feeling, like it was meant to be. It wasn’t a struggle, the song just fell out.

You mentioned earlier that you created a new live show in support of the album. What should fans expect from the tour?

It’s a lot more dynamic than before, I think. As much as the album is a little more downbeat and pulled away from the EDM world we were sort of co-opted into, we do have a little more of dance party vibe. It’s really fun, I don’t know how to describe it. There’s a dynamic range that for me is important in a show. At least to keep my attention. Otherwise, you’re just getting a wall of sound the whole time, so I was really conscious of not wanting that.

Who are some of your favorite live performers?

I’ve only seen Haim once, but that was one of my favorite concerts. Other than that, I like old fogey people. I like watching Bonnie Raitt or Nick Lowe or old-timey musicians. I think the purity of the songwriting draws me to it. There’s not a lot of tricks or smoke and mirrors. I really like old-school songwriting and songwriters and it’s mostly what I listen to. I think it informs the way I write, even if I write pop music that’s dependent on a lot of production.

Speaking of production, ‘Royal Blues’ feels like a more maximal, lavish soundscape than the stripped-down vibe of your earlier work. Was that a conscious choice?

I think that’s part of wanting to make a beautiful record. I think historically our albums were dominated by more of a gritty roughness. Part of that was a reaction to my solo career, which was about singing pretty. I was really excited by not being pretty all the time, making interesting sounds with my voice that weren’t necessarily pretty. I think after three records I felt like I wanted to re-explore the more beautiful aspects of my voice.

As a Canadian and someone who lived in the U.K. for a long time, do you have an outsider perspective on the current political climate in the United States?

I think that for a lot of Americans and for the world there’s just cause to be quite, um, frightened. I think we’ve made a lot of headway and progress socially. I think that the problem, when it came down to it, and maybe I’m wrong, was that social media was like ‘I have the choice between a sh*t sandwich and piss pie,’ or something like that. People were just making a joke about it. Why? Because she’s a woman or because she’s a Clinton? I think that people became apathetic because it was fun to joke about, but you’re comparing this person who has experience with a reality television star as if one is the same as the other. I think that was damaging.

Is there a moral of the story?

Most people are not political. Most people aren’t really paying attention, but maybe it’s just the people I follow. I think no matter what this is going to be a lesson to young people to think more critically. It’s astonishing how the jokes and funny posts have just evaporated off social media. It’s not a joking thing anymore, and I think a lot of people regret that they didn’t stand more of a firm ground with regards to the comparison. That’s obviously just my opinion, though, half of your country feels differently.

What are your plans after Dragonette gets off tour?

I think we’ll just be trying to promote this album for the next little while. I’m always doing more songwriting and collaborating. Just rinse and repeat.

“Royal Blues” is available on Apple Music Nov. 11.