What does MARBL sound like?
Dreamy folk-pop ballads for the warming of the heart.
The review of MARBL – The Sunsets and Dawns of Everything
MARBL’s new EP has taken three years to create and charts the cycle of a heart being snuffed out and reignited. Across the six tracks, the Israeli dream folk artist explores love in different guises with romantic warm melancholy. It is a bittersweet release that nails the tone of a warm hug through music.
Each track is closer to a ballad than anything rousing but they all have distinct identities. “The First Day of the Rain” is a beautiful classic piano, strings and vocal piece. It harks back to classic songwriters like Simon and Garfunkel and stripped back Joni Mitchell. “You (Make Me Feel Brand New)” is a glassy and hazy synth-drenched piano pop track that leaves a gauzed space between all the instruments. It glides effortlessly as MARBL’s voice shines in its diffused delivery. Whilst nothing else strays into this territory on the EP, thematically that shift between clarity and dreamlike haze reoccurs across the release.
Most of the instrumentation is acoustic and natural. The rootsy but pacey acoustic guitar-driven “It’s Always Our O’Clock Somewhere” showcases MARBL’s ability to build and build upon a seemingly simple melody and make it ring out loud whilst staying firmly acoustic and ballad orientated. “Everybody’s Getting Married” takes that move towards country and adds wedding bells and bluesy chords to it for an uptempo number. Elsewhere “Never Get Out” evokes feels of Sarah Blasko with dramatic Western tinged guitars and bellowing kick drums rumbling away. Rounding off the EP, “Time Can Wait” merges all the soft rock elements of MARBL’s music into something more hazy and dreamy as if the cycle of love is kicking off again. Whether the love is for someone else or herself though, I’ll leave it up to the listener to decide.
A lovely set of songs that work really well as a full package, “The Sunsets and Dawns of Everything” is a statement of intent from MARBL. It feels less twee and more modern than 2019’s “The Flight of the Hawks”. That EP had a Carpenters vibe running through it whereas this feels like MARBL is discovering her own voice more and more across the release. That makes her music stand out more and as a result, fans of dreamy folk pop should seek out this hidden treasure.
Recommended track: Never Get Out
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MARBL - The Sunsets and Dawns of Everything