Marie-Pierre Arthur: Influences

It’s no surprise that Québécois singer/songwriter Marie-Pierre Arthur looks to the past for inspiration: Her glam-goosed, airy bops are equal parts Carole King and Roxy Music, Joni Mitchell and Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Simon & Garfunkel. But listen more closely and you can hear decidedly contemporary echoes—Arthur also draws on Björk’s outré power, Billie Eilish’s after-hours murmur, and M. Ward’s ramshackle modern Americana. She straddles folk and soul, then and now.