A Quick Chat with Margo Mann

Naarm/Melbourne artist Margo Mann has announced her debut album, Love Is A Dog, arriving October 16 via PIAS Australia. Alongside the announcement comes the sharp yet playful new single ‘Not Love’—a reflection on a relationship that resembles intimacy without ever becoming real.

Looking back with dry humour and emotional clarity, Margo captures the moment you realise someone is in love with the idea of you rather than who you actually are. We caught up with her to discuss the experiences behind the album, travelling to France to record with Burke Reid and introducing herself to audiences through such intimate music.

You’ve just announced your debut record, Love Is A Dog! It explores themes of self-reclamation and love in different forms. What kinds of experiences inspired the record?

I was meditating a lot on matrilineal inheritance at the time, and on womanhood more generally. Being a woman has historically been conflated with martyrdom and grace, and I was actively dismantling those impulses as I wrote the album. Reclaiming what remained.

I knew I wanted to work with Burke Reid, who has produced some of my favourite Australian records, and he had recently relocated to France. So I drained my savings, quit my job, and flew my band over to work with him. It was the biggest bet I’d ever made on myself.

Wow, that’s a long way to go! What did that process look like in the studio?

We tracked the record across two full weeks. It looked like 8:30AM on the underground, long black and baguette in hand, hours spent finessing piano and band parts, using scenes from my favourite films to cement each track’s mood, and white-wine at 1AM the following morning, doing yet another vocal take while Burke played with the specific angle of the lampshade in my vocal booth, making sure the lighting was just the right amount of sombre.

Burke Reid has an incredible catalogue of work, and it sounds like he was a great collaborator for you. What made you want to work with him, and how would you describe your creative relationship?

Yeah, Burke has made some of my favourite Australian records of the past decade, and we share a great deal of sensibilities. I wanted something that sounded large, timeless, and that centered my vocal without compromising on cinematic restraint.

I took a zoom call with him while I was selecting the right producer, and was drawn to the way he challenged and pushed me in the call. I wanted someone to push as hard as me to make the best record possible.

Looking back now that Love Is A Dog is complete, what surprised you most about making the record? What were you expecting that unfolded differently?

I was reminded how much I love a certain intensity of experience. I'm very busy-minded, and so when I have external pressure applied in finite stretches of time, I get this permission to really lock in.

Of all the tracks that strayed from their demos, "Not Love" evolved the most. We stripped it back to bare bones, just drums and bass, altering the beat into this disco pattern, inspired by the pool party scene in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights. I then reimagined the vocal melody, and while I was playing with it, this character emerged. I flattened my vibrato, and let my vocal take on something wry and playful. She surprised me.

You’ve released some incredible singles so far, including ‘Westgarth/Grace’ and ‘Shapeshifter’, which both feel very intimate and revealing. How does it feel to be introducing yourself to your audience? Has it changed your relationship with the songs?

There’s a strange sense of relief largely. As an artist, you sit on material for a long time before it reaches your audience, at which point, you can no longer control the narrative. And control is a fool’s vice.

We’re so excited for the album to arrive this October. What can we expect from Love Is A Dog?

11 songs charting a young woman’s unravelling.