(label)
14 February 2011 (released)
22 February 2011
Mike Marlin seems to have waited a very long time before releasing his first record, with his biog jumping 25 years from early experiences as a musical journeyman to releasing this record. Whatever happened in the intervening decades Marlin’s retained an energy to succeed that is admirable.
Having already played on the HMV Next Big Thing tour, Marlin seems to have started 2011 with some zeal, and it is with some interest that we explore this debut release. The first impression is his striking baritone, which is a cross between David Bowie and Damon Albarn, and like those two, this music is very British. No other country would produce this type of material.
Inspired by the likes of Elvis Costello and Paul Weller, Marlin’s old enough to have more to write about than meeting girls and going clubbing; “Am I writing my obituary as a spreadsheet or a eulogy?” he asks on the pained ‘Undercover Genius”. Even his press release has a lovely quote about wasting years fixing the holes in his alibis.
The songs are steeped in traditional pop-rock, but Marlin knows that simple isn’t always good, and there are some lovely production tricks, courtesy of James Durrant. For example, the lovely ‘No Place Like Home’ could have been a standard acoustic strum, but instead it has a lovely pitter-patter rhythm and some delicate keyboard splashes.
‘Second Son’, with it’s touching father-son story (“you shook my hand and sent me away, remember the day”) and ‘Iceberg’ are other tender moments alongside the edgier guitar driven tracks like the very Bowie-esc ‘Hit That Button’ and ‘Play That Game’. Marlin’s supporting The Stranglers on their tour of the UK in March, and I would imagine that he’d go down very well. An interesting debut, just a shame it took so long.
