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Anatomy of an Album: JD Samson & MEN

Homerot1_jd_samson_music

The inspirations for their latest release, 'Labor'

Labor, the new release from electropop outfit MEN, is primarily the brainchild of singer-producer JD Samson, an ex-Le Tigre member who's recently found herself preoccupied with house, disco, and the tug-of-war between her stage and real-life personas. "I really felt like there was a disconnect," she says, "but I recognized the separation, who I truly am, through writing this record." Here, her inspirations for the album.

002_jd_samson_music_0Love Committee,
"Law and Order"

"I heard the 12-inch in a music shop somewhere and ended up buying it on vinyl on eBay, the only place I could find it. Then I sent it to my bandmates with the intention of building on it."

003_jd_samson_musicLucy R. Lippard,
I See/You Mean

"She's a 1970s and '80s feminist writer, and this is somewhere between psychoanalysis and fiction. It made me think more experimentally about narrative structure and work less literally lyrically."

005_jd_samson_musicPlanningtorock
"Listening to her helped remind me what I'm doing as a musician: creating a narrative and a soundscape and still maintaining my political stance, personal truths, and sincerity as a human. I consider her a sister in the music world."

PortraitartisGerald Alper, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Patient
"This book got me thinking about the psychoanalysis of an artist and what I wanted to do with my work. The Labor song 'Neon Poles' is the perfect example: It's totally a pop song, but the content is a complete psychoanalysis of myself."

004_jd_samson_musicNigerian and South African Dance Music
"I spent a few weeks only listening to '70s Nigerian disco funk--like the Sahara All Stars and T-Fire--and South African house, like Survivor's 'Stjwetla,' trying to cleanse my ears of the standard American rhythm and tone."

006_jd_samson_musicCaster Semenya
Samson wrote Labor's "Semenya" from the South African runner's perspective: "She was questioned about being a man and had to take a test to prove she was a woman. It must have been so scary and embarrassing. I felt really connected to this story--I pass as a man, but I'm a woman."

LISTEN to "Let Them Out or Let Me In" below:

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