Convention has been thrown out of the window and this angel is here to rewrite the books. Wearing more than one hat, Cape Town’s Ange Madame is an alternative pop musician, sound designer, creative director, video editor and costume designer. She performs all her talents in this new short film music video D.W.Y.L x Starlight x Moonlight out today, that introduces three songs off her album releasing on Jacomina Records 22nd October.
“I don’t need a big team to be a star because I already am” relates Ange Madame in her press release, which seems to reference the seriously DIY feel of the video and wider project. Responding to our questions specifically on the video, Ange added “I remain as a root of thought and intuition to push the boundaries with what I have; in some ways it is a rejection of perfection and in that it is perfection.” It looks as if it could have been shot on Photo Booth on Mac, familiar yet avant-garde in its execution. Furthermore, Ange Madame has recently become the recipient of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for performance art, this is South Africa’s most prestigious art award and infrastructure supporting arts in the country.
With limited funding she is turning multiple looks and singing in a way that reminds me of early Eartheater’s disregard for (and dissection of) what is quote unquote good taste. Ange’s Ange Madame is not made to be palatable. Her vocals at points graze the edge of a scream. Whilst she might not go full Yoko Ono yet, the vital musicians appear to share an appreciation for atonal textures.
The video opener, Down With Your Love lyrics literally posit “you’ve got to go and take a leap of faith”, setting the scene for just that. She’s someone who openly mocks what oppresses her in mainstream culture (I take this to be yassified supposedly ideal images of womanhood). Rigid definitions, through representations, of what is means to be a woman will never help all women, progressive feminists and least of all trans femmes. We adore Ange’s response with unrestrained choreography that references Gaga with love, and a hint of Beyoncé’s Green Light for the guitar scene. On the topic Ange shared, “these women have been entertainers for decades and I only learn from the greats.”
Next, we move into Starlight with a video-simulated car-crash and image of the protagonist, Ange Madame, stopping a nuclear bomb in its tracks. Death, injury and a saviour mingle. Ensuing is a short flash of the CND symbol made up of vibrating particles. Logic is defied in her dream sequence numbers that partner her unique serenading that bends dissonantly. The Moonlight section stands out with its heart littered digital backdrop, mother-swan gown and headdress as bubbles dance across the screen. Ange continues to fragment into triplets, now swaying in and out focus, conveying the feeling of one too many drinks at the club, although the artist herself swears “Oxygen is the only drug I like.”
In the final moments Ange transforms into a white rabbit and disappears down a hole, summing up the Alice in Wonderland trip we have been taken on, a peep into a highly creative mind.