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"If first impressions are everything, Marriages are
in great shape... A muscular, beautifully marbled slab of mood-rock that
sounds like a band about to howl." -- SPIN Magazine
"The dark, moody effort is hypnotic and occasionally
experimental, employing vocals against heavy backdrops in a way that's a big
left-hand turn from their other band." -- RCRD LBL
Marriages is a new band comprised of Red
Sparowes members Emma Ruth Rundle (vocals, guitar), Greg Burns
(bass, synthesizer) and David Clifford (drums). Their sound is a singularly
sensual kind of heavy, dramatic rock, but perhaps the most stark contrast to
their other band, Marriages employs vocals in their songs. Their music is
also considerably darker and more experimental, drawn from a wide range of
styles and ideas. Emma's breathy, understated delivery provides a focal point
- the eye of the proverbial storm. A haunting presence, as elusive as it
is alluring, her voice is a shore upon which waves of overdriven bass,
thunderous drums, and cosmic guitars and synths swell and crash.
Kitsune is their 6-song debut release, a short
introduction of an album whose undeniably epic proportions suggest massive
things to come. Recorded with the formidable Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Red
Sparowes, Tool) at the controls, Kitsune presents a
collection of poignant, emotionally-charged tracks that wriggle free of easy
classification. The comparisons are diverse; Cocteau Twins and Zola
Jesus would appear to be as influential as Boris and Godspeed
You! Black Emperor. The songs came together quickly as the band wrote and
played their first shows in November 2011 and wrapped recording in January
2012.
Album opener "Ride in My Place" sets the tone,
immediately revealing the undulating, reverb-cloaked darkness at the band's
core. Sounding not unlike PJ Harvey fronting an overdriven
rendition of Pink Floyd's "Echoes", the
fittingly-titled song arrives as a fully-formed companion piece for expansive
landscapes, perhaps traversing the vastness of the American west.
Hardly overstaying its welcome, the track soon gives way to "Body
of Shade", whose cryptic "My body gone forever..." lyric
suggests a sort of transcendence echoed in the music itself -- Clifford's
steady backbeat, the tense rhythm and the swirling interplay of synth and
cascading guitars recalling the finer moments of The Verve's
early recordings. Opening with a celestial keyboard loop and quickly gaining
weight, third track "Ten Tiny Fingers" builds upon a heavy
dirge-like rhythm punctuated by Rundle's vocals, which by now clearly occupy
a place among esteemed peers such as label mates Chelsea Wolfe and Lisa
Papineau. The song's cryptic, claustrophobic lyrics, contrasted with a
loose (but by no means less thunderous) atmosphere and sense of impending
collapse bring to mind The Cure, circa Pornography.
The next track, "Pelt", is borne from the decaying remnants of
"Ten Tiny Fingers". A menacingly hypnotic three-minute meditation
on minimalist doom, it serves as the perfect introduction to the distorted,
bass-driven hard rock and wailing psychedelia of instrumental track
"White Shape". Seven-minute closer "Part the Dark Again"
is a song whose cinematic scope recalls precisely the kind of grandiosity Red
Sparowes are synonymous with, taken to its logical extreme. The impassioned,
struggling-against-the-odds sentiment of the vocals ("Part the darkness
in my heart", "Don't say it's nothing...", etc.) takes things
over the top emotionally, culminating in a soaring, melancholic riff that
grinds to a halt far earlier than you'd expect. Throughout, Rundle unassumingly
steps to the forefront, showcasing her unique talents as a guitarist often
overlooked within Red Sparowes' three guitar onslaught.
Kitsune is an exciting debut release from a
band well aware of their potential, harnessing the skills to fulfill it.
Marriages are an expansive, visionary development, a unique combination of
elements, a sound signposting the path ahead...Kitsune is
available on LP, CD and download via Sargent Houseas of May 1st,
2012.
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Artist: Marriages
Album: Kitsune
Label: Sargent House
Release date: May 1st, 2012
Track list:
01. Ride In My Place
02. Body of Shade
03. Ten Tiny Fingers
04. Pelt
05. White Shape
06. Part The Dark Again
On the Web:
marriagesband.com
www.facebook.com/MarriagesBand
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