Oakland’s experimental alt-folk artist Maria BC awes with their fresh, fathomless album, Marathon, via Sacred Bones Records.
Sometimes when I write songs, I imagine the voice that’s singing is a kind of spirit. Someone from up above or down below calling out to us in warning – ‘You can’t go on like this.’”
– Maria BC
After reviewing ‘Marathon’ earlier this year, I couldn’t wait for the album to drop and this release has far outshone my anticipation. Digging to the subterranean of the soul, Maria BC crosses the full emotive field and slams right into cautioning track ‘Safety.’
‘Safety’ is a lonely, blue-collar track cycling through a tiresome life loop and looking over your shoulder. A soft rendering that echoes the long hours of the poor and the struggling, ‘Safety’s strums hold you close in the suffering.
Reaching out with spiny percussion and jittering frequencies, ‘Rare’ is full of yearning and familiar strain. Living the loop too long now, the circuit has mutated into a noose worth running from. ‘Rare’ isn’t afraid to admit that, sometimes, the best we can do is get by.
Utilizing a trembling windowpane sample, ‘Sabotage’ is a contemplative glance at the moon on a starless night. Awake at all hours and swirling with plagues of the mind, this song stands as a lone pillar holding up the ashen skies on the darkest of nights.
When it comes to the more instrumental tracks of Marathon, ‘June’ and ‘Channels’ I hold the most dear. ‘June’ exudes the shimmering magic of the summer sun while ‘Channels’ has techno-laced whisper lyrics that feel like a jumbled premonition awaiting the right cipher.
Ranging from inventive musical execution to substantial lyrical depth, Marathon stands as an impressive body of work for Maria BC. Exploratory and scintillating, Maria BC translates the language of our hearts once again.
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