Great things can happen when you combine two disparate ideas. In the early 2000s, ‘Electro-Clash’ (later renamed “Indie Sleaze”) merged post punk guitars with a drum machine disco beat, creating a sound that defined a generation, or what happens when “Daft Punk is played to the rock kids”. Perfume and music have always felt like two different records I’ve been playing and mixing during my life. DJing in bars and clubs in Dublin allowed perfume to merge with drinks, smoke and desire, creating magic on the dance floor. Think Britney Spears’ Fantasy dancing with Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Male, while Boss Bottled makes out with YSL Baby Doll off in the corner.

My perfume mix tape captures music from that era that was important to me, combining my eclectic left of center tastes while also being shaped by them. The first two tracks served as a primer for a journey I’ve gone on via scent, music, art, literature, and theory. The “Noughties” brought us both a new indie dance music scene and the emergence of niche fine fragrance. Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, Serge Lutens, Le Labo and Francis Kurkdjian all launched during this decade. The music mirrors my eclectic perfume selections, always digging deeper, finding those that strike a chord.

 

LCD Soundsystem Losing My Edge and Matière Premiere Encens Suave

A gritty, CAN-inspired groove paired with a half-spoken, half-sung vocal reminiscent of The Fall’s Mark E Smith forms a New York City soundscape. Choreographer Michael Clark already proved you could dance to The Fall, but James Murphy perfected it with a disco beat. His smart self-aware lyrics documented the time, while giving a history of important music to explore that informed this moment. Music, much like fragrance, draws from the past, adding a twist to keep it contemporary.

Matiere Premiere Encens Suave opens with a coffee note, (James Murphy is a coffee lover), its structure also captures that driving beat found in Losing My Edge. Pairing it with incense, amber, benzoin and vanilla gives it an analog feel.

 Balmain Jolie Madame and Le Tigre Hot Topic

Kathleen Hanna has continually shaped my thinking. Her electro-clash synthpunk pop band Le Tigre’s track “Hot Topic” celebrates strong women and Queer thinkers, presenting a curated list of cultural icons, all wrapped in an infectious dance groove.

Germaine Cellier, a trailblazer fits with this track, as Balmain Jolie Madame artfully combines a bitter green, powdery violet with a bold touch of animalic leather, transforming a delicate floral into one with a contemporary punk edge.

The Strokes Last Nite and Dior Dior Homme Original

The Strokes are credited with starting the 2000s’ New York music scene. Their early single, The Modern Age was infused with an electrifying up-tempo energy, blending punk with a 60s/70s pop vibe. Casablanca’s slightly distorted vocals added an edgy twist, creating a sense of something fresh and exciting. It was rock music you could dance to, “in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia from the unremembered 80’s’”. The Strokes had a gentle quality that contrasted with their couture punk image.

Dior Homme blends softness and toughness, capturing the essence of The Strokes’ Last Nite. The fragrance features cardamom, complemented by a powdery vanilla, iris and cacao, oozing rock and roll with the metrosexual fashion of the 2000s.

 

Peaches Fuck the Pain Away and Histoires de Parfums1740 Marquis de Sade

The in your face vocal and dirty minimal beat of Peaches Fuck the Pain Away quickly became an anthem during my art school days, coinciding with the economic downturn from the Celtic Tiger to a more subdued kitten. Fuck the Pain Away is an empowering track that challenges the misogyny often found in classic rock. The Teaches of Peaches resonated with me, just as Kathleen Hanna’s did, emphasizing the power of one’s body, the understanding of pleasure and self.

1740 Marquis de Sade by Histoires de Parfums shares this raw intensity. It’s a perfume that oozes dark leather with a charred immortelle sweetness, purring with an untamed wildness hinting at what’s lurking in its depths. It smells how Fuck the Pain Away sounds.

Justice Phantom Pt. II (Soulwax Remix) and Arquiste El

The contemporary Indie Sleaze beat of Charli XCX and The Dare, draws inspiration from a French Touch sound more than the NYC 2000s music scene. It channels the rock rawness of Justice, along with the talents of Daft Punk and Soulwax, who famously ‘traded their guitars for synthesizers’. Phantom Pt. II is composed around a synth sample from the horror film Tenbre by Goblin, The Soulwax remix amps up the intensity like you are speeding through a dark tunnel.

El by Arquiste complements this track. Perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux is like the fragrance Daft Punk; he knows the hits and how to remix them to compose something beautiful and new. Here El samples and reimagines some of my all-time favorites. YSL Kouros and CHANEL Antaeus are morphed into a dirty, intoxicating leather fragrance. It’s an earworm that won’t leave my mind.

Electro-Clash was the beginning of something new built from some things older, its style is now part of the mainstream, just like the fine fragrance houses of the time have become recognized. As James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem sang “I’m losing my edge, the kids are coming up from behind.” But they were there!

–Jonathan Mayhew, Senior Editor