Marlon Williams walked out onto The Triffid's stage (16 May) dressed sharp, and with a nod to his band mates slipped smoothly without a word into ‘Come To Me’ – the opening track off his recent album ‘Make Way For Love’.
It is a tender and heartfelt song. A beautiful intro to pull the chattering audience into a soft focus, lulled by Marlon’s smooth and powerful voice.
Marlon Williams is a lover. And his set is woven through with all the aches, desires, longings, fevers, high peaks and valley lows of a very passionate love.
He walked us through a well thought-out performance that was brewed together with songs off his new album as well as favourites such as ‘Dark Child, ‘Strange Things’ and ‘I’m Lost Without You’ from his self-titled debut.
There are a few things that set Marlon apart as a unique artist. His voice for one, is otherworldly and yet calls to mind something you might have heard spinning from a dusty, old vinyl in a black and white movie.
Click here to read our April 2018 interview with Marlon.
But on top of this he’s also an incredible songwriter and committed performer. His songs are each like little novels, often telling a story from the perspective of a character different in age, persona and even sex to himself.
I am always impressed by writers who are able to disassociate themselves from their protagonists, and yet perform live with such a conviction that it’s as if they really were their character.
In this manner Marlon manages to bring an element of theatre and acting to his music and performance. A level of immersion into the art of song, which is a rare sight to see these days. It’s awesome to know that Marlon is keeping that old flame alive.
Another thing setting Marlon’s music apart is the odd combination of influences and themes he manages to synthesize within himself. There is something old fashioned in his etiquette and poise. You could imagine him playing in a tux at a jazz bar in the 1920s and yet, on top of that, there is even something New Orleans voodoo and ghostly about him.
Some of his songs carry all the eeriness of an old, abandoned house. But the man can also swing himself well through country and folk. Then clicks his fingers once more and is a bad-ass belting blues man.
With another suave turn and clap of the hands he becomes the sexy and playful charmer who shakes his hips through numbers like ‘Vampire Again’ and ‘What’s Chasing You?’.
Musically he likes to wriggle out of pigeonholes and boxes too.
Click here to read our review of Marlon's Sydney show (17 May).
He can be seen playing guitar, taking to the mic alone or plopped behind the keys as solemn and dramatic as Dracula lightly touching at tender notes and slamming down on well composed, olden-style chords while another band member overlays this magic with experimental synth pieces and pads; often giving the music the feeling as if it were simultaneously from the past and the future, and definitely giving the impression that Marlon has a huge part not just in the writing of the songs but in the composition of the music too.
Yet despite all this shape shifting and role playing, when the song ends and the character is dropped he slips easily back into his cheeky and jovial Kiwi self.
Punching out quirky lines and smiles that remind us that despite how beyond his years his whole performance seems, he’s still a mischievous, young rapscallion of only 27.
It’s quite clear that Marlon is serious about his art. And it’s refreshing to see a musician who puts as much devotion into a song as a painter getting a portrait down to a tee.
I obviously wasn't the only person to think so. When he finished the set off with ‘Make Way For Love’ the crowd wouldn’t allow he and the band to leave without an encore. Marlon returned and performed ‘Love Is A Terrible Thing’, a sore and beautiful song about heartbreak as you can imagine, added to by lovely piano playing and accompanied by the crooning sax of one of his bandmates.
To finish the encore, as I had hoped, he performed his gut-punching cover of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins ‘Portrait Of A Man’. A slow and heavy hitting blues walker about a man painting a self-portrait in all the painful colours of blue.
It is in this song that Marlon’s voice truly takes flight, spreading its wings to display all of its awful power and secret nuance. He belts it from the depth of his soul with a force that could tear your heart out and blow the scalp right off your head. Or at the very least leave your jaw on the floor.
Marlon is an incredible musician, songwriter, performer and artist. What he is creating is multilayered, authentic and one of a kind. He is carving new and unique paths through the world of music and is one of the most interesting and impressive young musicians in that world today.
It is artists like Marlon who stoke the old flames while still taking bold, new steps forward who are keeping the soul of real music alive. Keep it up Mr. Williams.
