C.A.R. is Chloé Raunet — the Canadian-born, London-based producer, songwriter and vocalist — formerly of Battant released on Ivan Smagghe and Chloé’s seminal Kill The DJ records ( named after a night Paris’ famed lesbian run club Le Pulp). Battant were famously discovered by Andrew Weatherall.

C.A.R.’s new record Dance at Oscar’s marks a creative rebirth for Chloé with a new label - Houghton festival founder Craig’s Richards independent label The Nothing Special.

C.A.R. (Choosing Acronyms Randomly) has always defied easy categorisation. But this time, something shifted. After a pandemic-induced pause to focus on her debut documentary (I Am Weekender, BFI / Heavenly Films), Chloé re-emerged with a hunger for change — and with new member Joni, found a kindred force.

Written and refined over a two-year period, Dance at Oscar’s is a bold leap back onto the dancefloor — full of mischief, movement and machine-led emotion. Chloé’s songwriting walks the tightrope between wonk and precision, pop and experimentation. The album was shaped in collaboration with Nathan Ridley at Hermitage Studios, where late-night sessions, playful experimentation, and a shared love of gear (the Roland TR-808 and Lexicon Prime Time delay, chief among them) pushed the sound into bold, vivid new territory.

Highlights include The Pageant, a brooding take on monarchy and moral contradiction; Shyana, a machine-funk deep dive into pop hysteria and Paul Anka; and Gentle Sunsets, a synthetic anthem to the numbing grip of consumer culture. Shade in Me — reworked from a collaboration with Andy Bell (Ride) — retains Andy’s guitar and bass, but now pulses with live drums. On the Line closes in a dream state, nodding to Laurie Anderson with vocodered clarity.

C.A.R. has performed at Berghain, Le Bataclan, Nuits Sonores, and Red Bull Music Festival Moscow. She also hosts On the Slip Road, a monthly NTS Radio show since 2013, which explores her ongoing love affair with genre sprawl and sonic oddities.