Oliver Marson – ‘Manipulator’
(Released April 1st 2022)
Having teamed up with Jorge Elbrecht (Kirin J Callinan, Ariel Pink) and Joshua Rumble (Black Country New Road) to achieve the sound across his upcoming album and singles, Oliver Marson blends music from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s to create a catchy baroque pop aesthetic that feels as timely as does timeless. This is ludicrous music for ludicrous times; satire for life in late capitalism.
His lyrics take more from contemporary rap artists like Danny Brown rather than the current zeitgeist of guitar bands, because of their provocative nature. The tracks also feature Christina Lopez on drums (Lava la rue, Empathy Test), Charles Cave on bass (White Lies) and with some vocals from For Breakfast lead vocalist, Maya Harrisson.
His latest single, ‘Manipulator’ is three and half minutes of haunting, paranoid post-pop – an aesthetic that fits the track’s dystopian narrative perfectly. “Manipulator is the first track I recorded with Joshua Rumble (Black Country New Road, Clockworks) during the pandemic” explains Marson “It was also mixed by Jorge Elbrecht (Ariel Pink and Kirin J Callinan) who has been involved with some of my biggest influences. The track also features Christina Lopez who I play with in Empathy Test. When I made this I was very much inspired by the guitar sound of Drab Majesty, whose influence I am sure you can hear on this track.”
“The lyrics were very much inspired by what was going on at the time. It was clear during the pandemic we were being totally manipulated whether that was by politicians, the media or the corporate classes. The first line of the song and overarching message addresses this ”we’re sleepwalking with the loonies at the wheel’ – we’re basically heading into a crisis. We tried to get across this in the video through me playing a dodgy Wall Street banker. Obvious influences being American Psycho, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Wall Street and A Shock to the System. I enjoyed very much performing as this campy character, it was fun and I loved the DIY approach we took to filming it. The video might come across as a joke, but that’s exactly the point – it is a joke, because all of this is so unavoidable. I am making ludicrous music for ludicrous times.”
