Interview by Matteo Pini
Portrait by Stella Gigliotti

MP  Can you walk me through the genesis of The Starrr Of The Queen Of Life (2025)? I read that after the release of 2023’s Polaris Prize-winning Good Luck, you were burned out. 

DF  After Good Luck, I was exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. I had just moved to Toronto, but I spent no time there because I was always on the road. I thought, “Where is my life, where’s my anchor?” I decided to take some time off from touring, to feel situated and solid, and to be self-managed, which was just before I started writing the album. After Good Luck, I wanted to make another album, but I felt creatively blocked and couldn’t access the space I needed to be in. I went on tour last August, and during that time, I knew I was going to have time off between shows. I decided that this was the month for me to make the album. I was very strict about it, and ended up finishing the majority of the album during that month. 

MP  You recorded the album in London. Did the energy of the city bleed into the songwriting?

DF  For sure. I always feel that a geographical space informs the work. Recording in London was crazy, because we spent so much time in the studio; we only went out a few times. London is such a postmodern city, and you can hear it in this record. One day, my producer Darcy [Baylis] and I were walking in Hackney, and a car drove past us blasting this crazy dancehall riddim so loud. I wanted to make a song like that, which gave me the idea for the song “Alberta”.

MP  For Good Luck, you noted the influence of Carl Jung and his concept of the shadow self. Were there any new philosophical touchstones this time around?

DF  I’m always reading, and my philosophical inquiries always inform the work. I often read Simone Weil – she’s an incredible writer, and I love all of her books. Do you know Martin Buber? I was revisiting his book I and Thou (1923) recently. Something that was on my mind when I was making The Starrr was his concept of relationality in a romantic sense, but also in the act of relating as a human being: your friendships, people you work with, people at the grocery store. Over the past two years, I’ve learned so much about relating in a way that has allowed me to have this grace for both myself and others. We’re all just human beings, and everybody thinks they’re doing the right thing for themselves. It just helps me not to take anything too personally and be self-righteous. I am a lifelong overachiever, and I want to win, but at the same time, I feel less selfish, and I see life in the context of humanity as a whole.

MP  Do you see yourself drawing upon the philosophies of other artists, challenging or continuing their lineage?

DF  I saw this quote from Gerald Donald [of Afrofuturist electro duo Drexciya] and it really struck me. He says, “I would state that all variations of humanity have contributed to the evolution of electronic music. Electronic music is the only music type that is global in scope and not specific to any particular culture. Granted, if a variety stems from a particular culture, then it will apply its own idiosyncrasies to the form. But in general, it’s a universal sonic medium with endless contributions.” This quote embodies what I’m trying to do with music, this genre hopping and hybridity. At its core, my music is electronic music, and electronic music is a universal sonic medium.

MP  On The Starr, there is a futuristic, cybernetic energy, rooted in a raw human emotion. Do you see yourself working within speculative or sci-fi territory? 

DF  I need hope to operate in this way. I don’t vibe with complete cynicism and a dismissal of dreams, which is happening now everywhere. I see how that is changing people, how it’s changing art. I don’t care if it’s me being naive or overly optimistic. I think that hope is a very important tool, and one that is intimately connected with sci-fi.

MP  Could you describe a bit about the album cover, and what its symbolism means to you?

DF  The album cover is tied up with the name of the album, The Starrr Of The Queen Of Life. This is a name that the ancient Babylonians gave to the star Vega, a real star in our solar system. It’s a fixed star, the fourth brightest in the universe, and its constellation is said to look like a falling eagle. I wanted to play with the idea of both flying and falling: I have wings and this bird imagery, but I’m also on a plinth and am upside down, and that’s a kind of illusion. Nowadays, images are treated as if they’re a dime a dozen, but I wanted people to spend time with the image, to feel like they have something to uncover. .