With well over 2 billion worldwide streams across platforms, collaborations with titans such as Billie Eilish, a #21 on Billboard's top 100 and appearances on the stages of Coachella and Lollapalooza, I think it's safe to say that Marian Hill has already made quite an impact in the world and industry that they love so much. Their trajectory and unique sound have certainly enshrined them among the most innovative acts in the Alternative-pop constellation, with well-deserved critical acclaim and countless fans rallying behind them at every turn.

The power-duo from Philadelphia is a true work of love expressed through a carefully-balanced interplay. On one hand, it's Samantha Gongol's beautiful, evocative and memorable vocals, and on the other, it's the vanguardist and trippy soundscapes crafted by Beatmaker Jeremy Lloyd.

Their last outing was the 2020 EP "Was it Not" and for a while there it looked like that was going to be it. An already burnt-out and exhausted Marian Hill stared a lockdown in the face and spent 8 months apart, not truly creating anything but allowing themselves to put things into perspective and fall in love once again with the project that made their lives what they are today. Somehow, they shook the blues off and got to work on delivering the very same full-length album that we're excited to be taking a look at today.

Here goes:

Remember me - Ostensibly a song that goes on about reminiscing. Certainly does spark them for me in how it reminds me of the lost -or even maligned- craft of the lounge, the hopelessly romantic sacred space between a smooth songstress and the accompanying instrument, which in this case is a lonesome piano. The track doesn't completely dwell on that vibe, as it quickly opens up into a more experimental piece showcasing the electronic power of Marian Hill with rather bold rhythmic lines that ebb and flow throughout the song creating a very interesting -almost dissonant- texture that results in a very up-front statement for the rest of the album.

In the over-arching plot of the album, this song's biggest strength is in how well it introduces the delightful vocal qualities of Samantha.

OMG - is pretty much an instant shift in mood and tone. The track opens on some peculiar strings before unwrapping itself into a luxurious and moderately-populated R&B track that revels in its own "Less is More" approach to the sensuality inherent to the genre. I was pretty stoked when listening to this song because if you pay attention, you can really appreciate the value of restraint and silence.

With some minimalistic music, things can feel sparse, and there's a lot of ambiguity to the sound, however with songs like OMG it feels like the track started the other way around with lots of notes and a big booming kick bass that was slowly toned down, trimming away the fat and leaving something that hints to bombastic intensity without actually getting there; opting instead to build a lot of suspense in between the quiet parts.

Visions Of You- If OMG was about suspense and restraint, track number 3 resolves a lot of it with its opening: A series of spy-thriller orchestral hits clearly bound to a synthesizer key makes for a very interesting aesthetic choice that also perks your ear up for a much richer song sound-wise.

"Visions of You" is not at all shy about its fat kick bass and scandalous atmosphere. It easily gets away with an even more intense presentation than any of the previous songs, setting itself up to be a strong contender for favorite song.

oOo That's my type (Feat. Yung Baby Tate) - A much heavier song in almost every way, again leaning shamelessly into a dirty-nasty Bass kick and flourishing in that middle ground between R&B and Hip-hop (obviously) while coaxing still the vanguardist and borderline experimental sound of Marian Hill, taking it into a bodacious and audacious new territory of honey-dripping snaps and hi-hats.

SPINNIN (Ft. Kemba & Steve Davit) - Picking up where the previous track left off, SPINNIN takes the sensuality of "That's my type" and dips it into the grimy sample-heavy sound of East Coast Hip-Hop to make rapper Kemba feel at home as he dexterously lays his bars right down, before letting the obscene and creative Saxophonics of Steve Davit hold court. Davit ferociously riffs his wildly inventive brass howl off of Samantha and then goes on a smackingly powerful (yet sadly short) solo that WILL send chills down your spine.

Best of all? Davit is not done yet with this album, but we'll get to that later.

Little bit (Ft. GASHI)- Little bit was the first song from this album that I had the chance to listen to all the way in January, and it's in some ways much more "conventional" than a lot of other songs in the album, but no less deserving to be heard alongside them.

The scarred-over heartbreak song revels in its superbly catchy hooks, but it's also one of Samantha's finest vocal deliveries, echoing a lot of what we could appreciate with "Remember Me", with the difference that now we have GASHI providing counterpoint with his own delivery, beautifully contrasting and enhancing Sam.

It's difficult to say how exactly the song was crafted, but assuming GASHI's part was up for grabs, I'm glad they went with him because he really killed it.

Simple - Though it's always easy to attach to a vocalist when it comes to appreciating a song, I found that "Simple" is one of Jeremy Lloyd's strongest works, and one where we can better appreciate how astute and creative a producer and beatmaker he truly is.

"Simple" is, of course, deceptively simple- It seems like one more stripped-down track that focuses on Sam's beautiful voice, but just beneath the beat some more of that electronic wizardry that Jeremy is responsible for makes its way and breaches the surface in short but impactful jumps, using vocal samples of Samantha's own as colorful -yet somewhat ghostly- accents that certainly know how to elevate a seemingly minimalistic track into a richly layered and textured piece of work for the curious ear.

That's not me- Curiously start with the same sort of unconventional vocal samples that made "simple" a huge stand-out. Jeremy once again makes its presence felt by cutting, stretching and distorting snippets of voice to fill an empty space where a more conventional musician would put a straightforward beat or a mundane bass line. An even more warped version of this same snippet continues punctuating the track alongside its beat to make for a very surrealist background for Samantha to do her thing. It’s this kind of song that really allow you to appreciate how well the two of them go together.

Trippin' Out - Sadly, I have little to say about Trippin' out as it stands. Don't get me wrong, it's a fresh little track but nothing jumped out at me as having any particularly strong qualities.. Sound-wise, there's a much more hip-hop rhythmic structure to this song than to previous tracks, which is funny seeing as Sam doesn't really cross over into rapping herself (though she gets close at times). All in all, suppose this song does make for a pretty interesting use of the Marian Hill "Sound Library" as it were, showcasing the versatility of the duo.

You're Invited (Ft. Steve Davit) - This song is more my speed. I'm not exactly sure what sort of electronic witchcraft is going on here, especially at the start, but Jeremy certainly makes it work with these bizarre and seemingly off-the-cuff sounds he pulls from the aether.

Looking at the tracklisting, I was obviously eager to get to this song since it meant I'd get to hear Saxophonist Steve Davit show up again and play off of both Sam's delicious voice and Jeremy's eccentric production. Of course, Davit doesn't disappoint as he shows up early to jam alongside the beat through the entirety of the track.

Pretend (2003)- Close to The grand finale, this album loops back around to elements that were introduced in both "Remember Me" and "OMG". The callback happens in the form that the bare-bones dissonant rhythms of Jeremy create an intimate space between themselves and Sam's pure vocals, and much like in "Remember" the song opens up around the 25% mark by growing a new beautiful and haunting sound derived from a highly-manipulated vocal sample, converting its minimalistic musical backing into an entirely alien landscape where the shimmering and decidedly vulnerable vocals float over, before ending things in an abrupt "come over" that's none the less quite loaded with longing.

It Never Ends - Of course, you'd position a song with this name to close down your album! Marian Hill also opted to make that ending a bit more upbeat and breezy than I would have expected. "It Never Ends" has a touch of pop and a touch of House Trance for good measure, making this somewhat eclectic collection of tracks feel more complete.

Faced with the finality of the album, Marian Hill allow themselves to go all out with what they haven't really touched on in the album so far. A mix of optimism and teen-aged illusion makes for a refreshingly genuine and sweet song that eschews the gritty intensity from before and adopts a much more relaxed stance towards its own themes, while once again showing the huge plasticity of the duo in the wide emotional and atmospheric range that they can so effortlessly accomplish.

It's hard to say without directly asking them, what exactly went through their heads when working on this album, but it is safe to say that they have indeed pushed things forward when it comes to their sound by delivering something that is impossible to get bored with. "why can’t we just pretend?" -once again- demonstrates the huge plasticity and maturity of the duo. You can nail down what their sound is for sure, now even more so than in their Sophomore release, as it's got the same unmistakable character and identity to it but so far refined that they're simultaneously difficult to box in as simply a pop band, or an R&B band or whathaveyou. I think Marian Hill could very easily transition into adopting any genre they want and turning it into a piece that's still unequivocally theirs by virtue of that balance between the exuberance of Lloyd's production and the Time-tested beauty of Sam's voice.

Lastly: If a new album wasn’t enough, the duo has also announced their first U.S tour since 2018. So go get hype and go get your tickets here.

Marian Hill asks "why can’t we just pretend?" In new album

©WAV RECORDS • POWERED BY SQUARESPACE