Mar
6

Mike Marlin To Release New Album, Grand Reveal

Mike Marlin – Grand Reveal

[album] out April 8th 2013

Music OMH – ‘lyrically astute, musically measured and quintessentially English introspections’
Grumpy Rocker – Nearly Man (Records of the Year 2011)
The Music Fix – ‘Pink Floyd running riot in a jazz club’
Whisperin’ And Hollerin’ – ‘There’s no smoke and mirrors, deception or trickery: Marlin’s all about quality songwriting, but the fuller arrangement and the epic chorus is the perfect foil for his grizzly delivery.’
Music News – ‘The further you travel through this album, the more beautiful the songs become’ (Man on the Ground – Album)
Subba Cultcha – ‘The album as a whole happily sitting say amongst Bowie’s 70’s records a la Diamond Dogs, all saxophones, keyboards and reflection’ (Nearly Man – Album)

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Drawing influence from, and comparisons to, Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads, welcome to ‘Grand Reveal’, the third album from Mike Marlin.

There is a simple song (‘Lying Next To Me’) on ‘Grand Reveal’ that is a perfect example of what Mike does terrifically well. You immediately identify with the sentiment: how much do you trust the person you’re with? But on repeated listening, it dawns on you that perhaps it is the protagonist who should not be trusted. Nothing on this record is quite what it seems.

The future single ‘War To Begin’ - “And I’ve been here before/Standing in my uniform/Waiting for this bloody war to begin” – is it a call to arms? Or a lament for lives wasted on envy and excuses?

The hauntingly Nick Cave-esque ‘The Murderer’ features wind up toys, strings and discordant guitars to create a horror movie soundtrack. Is it about an unnamed killer? Or is it about you, the murderer, forever killing time? A real horror movie!

Mike was brought up in suburbia. When he was four years old he lost an eye while playing in the garden at home. The accident was traumatic and it turned Mike into the person he is today. Children are cruel and there was plenty of fuel for his anger and competitiveness. He became withdrawn and introspective. His outlet was academic and he became something of a child prodigy and at the age of seventeen won a scholarship to Oxford to study Physics.

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This weekend Mike heads off on a UK tour with Huey and the New Yorkers: