Four years after her self-titled debut, Marci is back today with Mask Lady and Late Night Girl, a record that takes the glossy synth-pop world Marta Cikojevic established on Marci and pushes it somewhere bigger, messier and more cinematic.
Made once again in close collaboration with her TOPS bandmate David Carriere, the album moves freely between pop, glam rock, country and early-2000s nostalgia, while holding onto the mix of humour and emotional sincerity that made her debut so charming. Across twelve tracks, Cikojevic turns bad nights, old memories, heartbreak and Hollywood mythology into a world populated by chaotic princesses, angels, demons, telepathic lovers, Baywatch Barbies and, of course, the mysterious woman who gave the album its name. She is also celebrating the release with a deliciously decadent new video for “Chaotic Princess,” one of the record’s most gloriously over-the-top moments.
The title of the album comes from a real encounter Cikojevic had after moving from Montreal to Los Angeles in 2024. But as she explains below, Mask Lady and Late Night Girl eventually became about something much broader: the different versions of ourselves we show to the world, the ones we keep hidden, and all the contradictions in between.
A few days before the album’s release, we caught up with Marci to talk about its strange Hollywood origin story, flexing her vocal muscles, cheesy lyrics, cinema, dive bars, dream collaborations and the perfect soundtrack for a chaotic night out.
“The masks give us super powers but also give us something to hide behind.”
HighClouds: Your new album title comes from this woman you used to see around your neighborhood in LA, who you called “Mask Lady,” while she apparently knew you as “Late Night Girl.” Can you tell us a bit more about that encounter?
Marci: After I moved to Hollywood/Franklin Village at the beginning of 2024, I would see this sassy and sexy dressed iconic woman walking around with her mini purse and pin-up girl Halloween mask. I was dying to talk to her.
Finally, one night I was coming home from a party and worked up the courage to stop her and chat. I said, “Omg you’re Mask Lady! I think you’re so iconic, I love your look,” and she responded, “Oh hey, you’re Late Night Girl.”
To my surprise, I was also a character of the neighbourhood to her. I felt honoured.
Marci by Alex Joukouv
The title comes from that very specific encounter, but it also seems to sum up the whole mood of the record. How would you explain the concept of Mask Lady and Late Night Girl and what connects these songs together for you?
To me, these songs touch on duality: the past and the present, who I was and who I want to be, darkness and light.
The cover shows two people, wearing something that is covering their face, driving on. The masks give us superpowers but also give us something to hide behind.
On the cover and on the record, Late Night Girl is in the passenger seat, looking through the window and watching life go by, with the help of Mask Lady weaving through the traffic and getting us where we need to go.
There are so many larger-than-life images across the record: princesses, angels and demons, sci-fi, astrology, Baywatch, Miami Vice, Babylon. Do you naturally process your own experiences by turning them into something more theatrical or cinematic?
I love this question because it combines all the most epic words on the album haha.
I love drama and grandeur in art and storytelling. I think I enjoy making things a little more fantastical. I don’t think I process my experiences like that, but I probably make them sound way cooler than they are later lol.
Since you mention that love of drama and grandeur, who are some of your favourite directors?
I’m going to pick some new ones I’m excited about: Matt Johnson, Julia Ducournau, John Early, Joachim Trier, Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers and Denis Villeneuve.
Some all-time favs: Sofia Coppola, Martin Scorsese, M. Night Shyamalan, Kubrick, The Wachowskis because The Matrix is literally the best. Steven Spielberg is so nostalgic for me. Wong Kar Wai was a first love.
What are your favourite lyrics on the album, and what makes them special to you?
I love the lyrics of “Lady with the Mask” because it felt like I was really there when I wrote them. Like I could feel the fear and sweat and danger and had imagined a whole scene.
But I also really love the lyrics of “Chaotic Princess” because they were so funny to write and immerse myself in, bratty style.
Marci by Allison Goldfarb
“She’s a little bit country, she’s a little bit rock and roll.”
You’ve said you wanted to try things on this album that you didn’t get to explore on Marci, what did you consciously want to push further this time around?
I wanted to try using my voice differently and push myself vocally. I also wanted to add more distorted guitars and write in other genres because she’s a little bit country, she’s a little bit rock and roll.
Which song on Mask Lady and Late Night Girl was the most challenging to make?
The ones that didn’t make the album 😂 Maybe they will make the next one 😉
You haven’t had a duet or featured guest on a Marci song yet. If you could pick anyone for a dream collaboration, who would it be?
I think it would be really cool to make a song with Nourished by Time.
Okay, also Spielberg was mentioned earlier and now I have so many John Williams themes running through my head. Wouldn’t that be the coolest, to make something huge and epic with John Williams?! Haha woooah.
When you’re making music, do you trust spontaneity or perfection more?
A balance of both!!
“Really cheesy lyrics are the best bad decision.”
What is your favourite bad decision in a pop song?
Literally when I say “where my heart used to be” in my own song “Butterfly Sticker”… It took me a minute to move forward with that line 😂.
So I guess really cheesy lyrics are the best bad decision.
When you and David are making a Marci song, how often are you actually talking about references? Are you saying “this should feel like Janet Jackson” or “this needs to sound like 2002,” or is that musical vocabulary more instinctive between you by now?
We do reference stuff, but we pick production aspects of certain songs that we like, and not the whole aesthetic. We like to mix different styles.
You’re both members of TOPS and you also work very closely with David on the Marci records. When you’re writing together, how do you know whether an idea belongs to TOPS or to Marci?
It’s usually pretty straightforward. If we’re working on Marci stuff, it’s Marci time, and if we’re jamming TOPS stuff, it’s with TOPS.
How do you manage those different creative processes in practice? Do you consciously switch into “Marci mode” when you start working on your solo music, or is the separation between the projects more fluid than that?
Definitely pretty fluid. I just love playing music and being creative as much as possible.
The main switch, I suppose, is when it’s Marci time I get to sing and work on flexing those muscles. So fun.
Marci by Justin Aranha
You moved from Montreal to Los Angeles between the two Marci albums. What feels most different about living and making music in those two cities? Do you think LA has changed the way you write or the kind of music you want to make?
LA is a workhorse in the way that there are constantly people working on music, and it rubs off on you in a good and bad way. It’s motivating but can make you feel overwhelmed.
Montreal feels a little more relaxed, but if you just chill out, LA can also be relaxed. I just got my own little studio space finally, so I’m chillin.
What does your ideal night out actually look like? Are you more into house parties, hanging out at a bar, dancing in a club, or something completely different?
Honestly, wherever the night takes me. But I do love a dive bar.
If you had to make the ultimate Marci party playlist, what are the first five songs going on it and why? And what would be the one song for the ride home at the end of the night?
Okay, we’re going to go in order of the night and you can make your own interpretations based on the song and title:
“Chaotic Princess” – Marci
“Lets Fucking Go Tonight” – Fireball Kid
“Lose Control” – Missy Elliott ft. Ciara
“It Feels So Good” – Sonique
“Memories” – David Guetta ft. Kid Cudi
And we’re saying goodbye with “Say Hello” by April Wine… cuz jk we coming back.
What are you obsessed with at the moment, outside of music?
Croatian cooking and my dog Pepa, always.
With Mask Lady and Late Night Girl, Marci takes everything that made her debut so easy to love and lets it get a little weirder. The synth-pop sparkle remains, but distorted guitars, pedal steel and glam-rock excess now sit comfortably alongside it, while songs like “Butterfly Sticker,” “Chaotic Princess,” “99 Dimensional” and “Lady with the Mask” reveal just how much room there is inside her pop universe.
More importantly, the album never forces its contradictions to resolve. Late Night Girl can keep the party going while Mask Lady quietly takes the wheel. A lyric can be ridiculously cheesy and completely sincere. A chaotic night can become funny in retrospect and still leave a bruise. Somewhere between those extremes, Marci has made a second record that feels unmistakably hers.
Mask Lady and Late Night Girl is out now.
- Marci takes us inside Mask Lady and Late Night Girl - August 31, 2026
- Planet 1999’s bby3ksn7 chases the afterglow on summery house track “sun7” - June 4, 2026
- O Slow captures the magic of the unseen on “Shine” - June 3, 2026
