C.A.R. – Machines and Mischief
C.A.R. (Chloe Raunet) steps into a new era with partner-in-crime Joni Green. Their latest single Shyana is out now, teasing the mischief and rhythm of upcoming album Dance at Oscar’s, set for release Friday 26th September on Craig Richards’ label The Nothing Special. Playful, rebellious, and defiantly alive.
Interview and Photography JC Verona Make up Sofia Paradis
Let’s start with the name. C.A.R. — Choosing Acronyms Randomly. What’s the weirdest acronym you’ve come up with so far?
CR: Oooof it’s been awhile. Not sure I’d describe it as weird, but here’s a dusty one plucked from the filing cabinet - lucky dip, like. Chatte A Roulette
“Dance at Oscar’s” feels like a rebirth. What changed for you, emotionally, musically, or politically, that led you here?
CR: The last C.A.R. album was released at the beginning of the pandemic, and watching all that work get sucked into the void left me completely disillusioned. I turned my back on music to make a documentary, and convinced myself that I was ready to focus on filmmaking, throwing in the towel once and for all. But I still had a couple of festival dates carried over from before lockdown. The only way I could face them was by trying something completely different, so I invited Joni to perform with me — a last hurrah. Turns out we had a lot of fun. Suddenly I had this newfound energy and purpose. There’s something really empowering about being an older woman, up on stage, owning it and not giving a fuck.
There’s an unmistakable sense of fun, romance and release in this record. After years of catharsis, what made you reach for lightness and mischief?
CR: Before Joni joined, the project had been very introspective and, as you say, born from catharsis. But three albums is more than enough self-indulgence. It was time to let go of all that and return to the kind of songwriting I’d done with Battant: slightly off the wall, narrative, stacked with metaphor. Everything seems so absurd these days, which for me, calls for playfulness and mischief.
How did working with Joni shape the energy?
CR: Joni is the most generous and loving motivator. Performing with her has given me new confidence. She’s a hypewoman and rallying force, who brings a huge amount of energy and love to the project. Plus she always makes sure we look the part. The perfect partner for a frontwoman who, offstage, would prefer to hide in the shadows.
“There’s something really empowering about being an older woman, up on stage, owning it and not giving a fuck.”
Chloé Raunet
Joni, you’ve joined a project with deep roots. How did the collaboration begin, and what made it click for you?
JG: Chloe invited me to join her live on stage in her kitchen one sunny afternoon back in 2022, I immediately said hell yeah, before bursting into tears… It was a dream come true and also totally unexpected. We had become friends over covid times as we were in the same bubble, although I had been a huge fan of her work for many years.
Our first gig together was at Houghton!! When we started to prepare and rehearse I was overwhelmed with Chloe’s encouragement and delicate understanding that this was a new thing for me to get my head around, she made me feel totally comfortable immediately. I hadn’t performed on stage since being a violinist as a kid, so this was big deal!!
Performing her work together gave the songs a new feel and right from that first performance, we were told by the audience that we had a message… Women at any age having fun!! After that Chloe asked me to play more gigs with her and with each one our bond grew… Then she started writing new material! This journey is something very special and we are growing as women together.
Chloe, your music has always floated between synth-pop, machine-funk, and post-punk moods. If you had to make a mixtape of 5 tracks that explain your musical DNA, what would be on it?
CR:
Chris & Cosey + The Eurythmics – Sweet Surprise
Grauzone – Raum or ESG – Insane (Bass Mix) … flip a coin
Peter Gordon & Kathy Acker – Winter Song
Broadcast – Michael A Grammar
Detroit Grand Pubahs – Sandwiches
Chloe, you and Nathan Ridley dove into some serious gear at Hermitage Studios. Tell us about your favourite toy. Was it the Roland TR-808? Or something weirder?
CR: The Lexicon PrimeTime. It felt like it had a mind of its own - proper ghost-in-the-machine vibes. You’d send something through and it would wander off on this warped, wonky journey. Those solo adventures didn’t just shape parts of the record; they influenced how we approached everything else.
What role do you think artists have in reflecting or resisting the political theatre around us?
CR: Hmmmm … these days, I’m not sure there’s a straight-forward answer. I think good art should be a kind of resistance - it should push back against the status quo and knock things off balance. But that happens slowly, and when politicians and corporations are in on the game, artists have to be careful where they place themselves. Maybe you can reflect, but I don’t think you can truly subvert from within the system. Too often, art that passes itself off as protest ends up diluting both: you get safe, mediocre work at best, or worse, an impotent imposture that blunts any hope of real resistance.
“We were told we had a message… Women at any age having fun”
Joni Green
There’s a lot of humour and rhythm in this record. Do you see “Dance at Oscar’s” as political, even if it’s wearing sequins?
CR: Even at my darkest, my music’s never been entirely straight-faced, and with Dance at Oscar’s I really wanted to lean into that. To make something you can move to, while still tickling the grey matter. And yeah, it’s political, but in a quiet way. I’m not one for slogans or spelling shit out; the characters and scenarios are cloaked in metaphor. People can take what they want from it.
JG: All of Chloe’s work is about life, and life is political… So yeah, DAO is definitely that, but shines and glitters like sequins to the max!!
You came up in the East London scene, fronting Battant, connected to Weatherall, later collaborating with Gesaffelstein, Red Axes, and others. How has your relationship with the electronic world changed since those early days?
CR: Since I started out in the early 2000s, the electronic music world has changed a lot more than my relationship with it. I’ve always been on the fringes, straddling different genres and not quite fitting in.
Your NTS Radio show, On the Slip Road, has been running for over a decade. What keeps you excited about digging into odd sounds and genre detours?
CR: Bandcamp.
You’ve performed everywhere, from Berghain to Bataclan to Prada Mode in Japan. What’s the strangest or most surreal gig you’ve ever had?
CR: I’ve had my fair share, but the show Joni and I did last year at a palace in Vilnius was pretty surreal. We’d been invited to open for Roe Deers, who was playing with a full orchestra and asked me to sing this track I’d done with him, Trident, live. They treated us like superstars - bouquets of flowers, a rock-star rider stacked with fresh fruit and local delicacies. The gig itself was open-air, hundreds of people, sun setting behind the palace walls… one of those real “pinch me, how the fuck did we end up here?” moments.
JG: Being invited to play in Japan by Craig Richards (he annually programmes the music for Prada Mode) was pretty surreal! I had never been to Japan before and has been on my tick list since a child. But the production and scale of the show in Osaka was something else. 20+ team working on the stage with all every element being taken care of in such detail was mind blowing. Adding to that the performance itself with all the VIPs seated and then the TikTok influencers arriving behind and really getting into the show was mental.
You’ve performed in some wild settings this summer — Prada Mode Japan, Glastonbury, Houghton. What’s been your personal highlight, and what’s been the most chaotic moment on stage so far?
CR: I’ve dreamed about playing Japan since I was a kid - it’s actually one of the main reasons I started this journey - so getting over there was definitely a highlight, if not the pinnacle. Both shows were mindblowing experiences, but Tokyo was next-level. Tuesday night at Mitsuki; this tiny, sweaty, booming basement, drenched in red light. They’d set us up behind the DJ booth, cut off from the floor by a glass wall and door, which turned out to be a very fun prop. With a long mic lead, I could slip in and out, spending half the set performing in the middle of the crowd.
Chaos? Definitely this year’s Houghton. Let’s just say we were properly channeling the Sunday night festival vibe. Technically it might not have been flawless, but in terms of honesty and connection with the crowd, that set was unbeatable.
JG: So many highlights for me as every performance feels like the first, which keeps it so exciting and fun. And chaotic….yeah definitely agree with Chloe on this, but it worked…its LIVE and raw and real. And we evoked emotional tears from a few of our friends. Now that is the best compliment you can get as a performer!!
You’ve said letting go of expectations was empowering. What expectation haunted you the longest?
CR: Broader recognition. Ironically, since letting go of that, things seem to be moving forward. Who’d have known?!
And finally: if you could soundtrack one unexpected film scene with a C.A.R. track, what would you choose?
CR: In a real film? The photoshoot scene on top of the Twin Towers in Sylvie (1972). Watch this space …
“Good art should be a kind of resistance — it should push back against the status quo and knock things off balance.”
Chloé Raunet
About C.A.R.
Chloé Raunet first made her name fronting East London electro band Battant, a group closely tied to Andrew Weatherall. Following the tragic death of bandmate Joel Dever, she launched C.A.R., releasing albums with Kill The DJ and Ransom Note, and sharing stages with artists such as Cat Power and Fat White Family. She has collaborated with Gesaffelstein, Red Axes, Ivan Smagghe, and Marc Romboy, among others, and her music has been remixed by Peaking Lights, Rroxymore, Michael Mayer, and Roman Flügel.
To know more about C.A.R. follow them on Instagram and listen to Shyana on Bandcamp
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