New York, NY (Top40 Charts) On June 23, 2015, Portland, Oregon-based Chris Marshall & The August Light will celebrate the release of their latest full-length, Some Kind of Dream, a departure from the alt. country/Americana of previous offerings, and an expansion of the new ground they started to chart on 2012's Waltz EP.
Some Kind of
Dream is produced by Patti King (The Rentals, Radiation City), who is also a member of - and band leader for - The August Light (which also features Ryan Reetz on keys,
William Joertz on bass, and Joel Swift on drums), Some Kind of
Dream is a genre-bending punch that proves Marshall is a songwriter able to meld atmospheric rock, spacious melodies, and folk traditions into songs that are both gorgeous and poignant.
Out went the old and in came the rest with Some Kind of Dream. Most notably, the rest includes an array of synthetic sounds. "These Days," its shadowy emotion buttressed by the lyrical realization that "these days, I prefer the night," leans toward doomy trip hop. "Castle" owes to producer Clams Casino, an artist that has played a significant role in shaping the sound of modern hip-hop.
But "
Break Bread" cuts closest to folk. And "Go Straight Home," written after the death of Marshall's grandfather, is just a gorgeous soul song with the uplifting horn arrangements to prove it.
Listen close, and you can hear Some Kind of
Dream unlocked on its second track, "Feel Like Running," when Marshall sings about being knocked down "to the place where all the honesty comes out."
The record was difficult to sequence, because the songs sound so different. But they're tied together by struggle, each representing a moment in a difficult couple of years where Marshall felt like his career, his life… everything was in limbo and on the line.
"I was usually the voice of optimism," King says. She would remind him what they set out to accomplish, that they promised not to rush it. When he worried no one would understand the diversity of influences, she said, "I don't care. This is what we wanted to do."
That is what they did, and that diversity of sounds is who Marshall is. But, who else is Marshall - and how did he get here?
Marshall is a preacher's kid, which means he grew up with preacher's music: Keith Green, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant. Elements of those earliest influences have been hard to shake. Marshall wanted them shook—because preacher's kids become teenagers too, and so Marshall met
Black Flag, and Minor Threat.
"I showed up at school 9th-grade year with this whole new look," he says, laughing. "Got shunned from the preppy table. Shaved my head. Hung out at the weirdo table. Started a band." There was Overmilked Cow. Putz. The Shimmies. Some were bands; some were concepts living only on T-shirts scribbled up in marker.
He discovered emo - the likes of Fugazi, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Mineral. He discovered country. He worked his way to soul. Found an insatiable love for hip hop. He dug into Sam Cooke, and Jerry Lee Lewis, The Staples Singers, and Jackie Wilson. And then came Elvis.
Marshall drifted enthusiastically with his interests, but could never quite find his own musical anchor. As he built a discography, he played with acts like Tift Merritt,
Elizabeth Cook, and Richmond Fontaine. But never did he feel fully comfortable. He felt … restless.
Then in 2009, he needed a fiddle player. He'd made an EP, Starting Out, and the guy who'd played on it was in Canada. Like one does, Marshall turned to Craigslist. He found an ad King had placed offering lessons. Thinking she was likely a middle-aged woman giving lessons out of her living room, Marshall called and asked if she had any students who might be good with Americana. King told him to send her the tracks.
He did. And, now we're at Some Kind of Dream, which will be released nationally on June 23rd. Marshall, and the band, couldn't be more excited about this, either.
