MARBLES Release Sophomore Album 'Humour'

The Norwegian band MARBLES have released sophomore album via Playground Music. The album, titled Humour, is the follow up to their self titled debut album from 2020.

Hailing from Kolbotn, the black metal capital of Norway, the music of MARBLES sounds about as dramatically different from the stereotypical idea you might have of the music this nordic country tends to produce, with a colorful indie pop sound that bridges the gap between washed out guitar-driven dream pop ala Wild Nothing and the more synthy chillwave style of artists like Toro Y Moi and Glass Animals.

The release of this new LP was preceded by a number of singles - starting with their ode to escaping city life for some much needed R&R "Heading Out" at the beginning of last summer as well as "World Inside Me", "One of A Kind", and most recently "Cold Water".

The band have also established the colorful visual world of their music via accompanying videos, including one for lead single "Heading Out" that makes literal the song's theme of escaping city life for some much needed R&R in the splendor of nature.

By contrast, "One Of A Kind" video shows off the band's cheeky sense of humor (no pun intended), performing in front of a green screen backdrop and cannily leans into the goofiness and obvious fakeness of its setup; inserting lead singer Ferdinand Widmer into screensaver type backdrops like one of those photo booth Karaoke machines you'd find at the mall.

Based out of Kolbotn, Norway, the members of Marbles come from a variety of musical backgrounds, with many of them taking initial inspiration from the style of music often associated with Kolbotn and learning music through playing in different metal bands as teenagers. Marbles includes Ferdinand Widmer on vocals and bass, Marius Ringen on drums, Adrian Sandberg on synths, and Marcus Widmer on guitar. The album was mixed by Adrian Sandberg (with help from Ferdinand Widmer) and mastered by Morgan Nicolaysen.

When the group formed originally, the different members were unsure exactly what sound and genre this new music would take on, but they quickly discovered a shared interest in dream pop, indie, and disco styles, and were able to capture a unique vibe together in their jam sessions. That vibe is present from their very first single "European Dream", and from there they quickly honed and built upon the blueprint that song set out for their sound as a whole.

Their first singles in 2019 were then that up with their full length debut Marbles in 2020, which features lead single "Woman" and other undeniable james like "She's So" -which sounds like Marbles doing their take on the french synth pop of Phoenix - and the previously released single "Baby Don't You Get It".

The group returned in 2022 with "Heading Out", the first taste of Humour which they followed with additional singles One Of A Kind, World Inside Me, and "Cold Water". Humour is out in full today via Playground Music.

Listen to the new album here:

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