Nominated by: K Simms esq.
Music club: Wander to Wozza's
Playlist addition: Hello Miss Lonesome
Marlon William's solo debut begins with a hiss and roar with two cracking songs. Hello Miss Lonesome is a confident Ghost Riders In The Sky style gallop that launches his solo career and this album in brilliant fashion.
Second track, After All, changes tack with a different vocal style and a kind of kiwi take on classic British RnB, and he keeps the pace up admirably.
By the third song, Dark Child, we're straying into darker, Nick Cave style ballad territory and I'm starting to wonder who the real Marlon Williams is, and whether that actually matters. I decided in the end, that it doesn't, in case you were wondering.
He seems very comfortable to slide around various genres and is adept at a variety of vocal looks. He's very versatile in other words.
I'm Lost Without You is a superb song and I mean no disparagement by suggesting that Mr Lee Grant or John Rowles would have loved to have that song to sing back in the day.
The acoustic country licks of Lonely Side Of Her and Silent Passage make me think of old Westerns from the fifties when a Cowboy at a camp fire would whip out a guitar and the cowpokes would gather round to do the backing singing. Choice!
Somehow Marlon carries this all off with aplomb. Music wise, nice touches abound (love that pedal steel in Silent Passage and the choir in I'm Lost Without You), and Marlon's smooth, confident delivery sells every song.
Downside for me is the profusion of mid paced songs and downer mood that envelopes the last 3 songs on side 2. I get that murder ballads are a big deal in some quarters but I'm a day person. So I tended to skip the last three songs and go back to Hello Miss Lonesome for another jolt of energy and fun!
Excellent choice Kev.
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