Marseille - Shaking Shoegaze Up

 

Marseille released their debut single Forget It All in 2022 and have since been making waves in the UK Indie Rock scene, with a relatively small but memorable discography of singles and EPs. The five-piece outfit averages at only 19 years old, bringing noteworthy attempts to revive Madchester Indie Rock, with Shoegaze and Psychedelia rolled in to spice up the sound.

They’re a band to really watch out for in 2024.

Upon first listen to the Derbyshire band, their new single, Monkey In The Middle greets you with a severely overdriven reverberated lead, a classic Shoegaze soundscape, just like New York Rock Band DIIV on Is The Is Are. Tom's drums that enter end up feeling quite baggy. The song idea had been around for about six years (since singer, Will, and lead guitarist, Joe were only 13!). This was until around 2020 when it was developed into a demo track. One of the things added later was a fun breakdown leading into an acrobatic solo about halfway through the track, which really completes the song. The song writing also nicely intertwines nostalgia and hope through their blissful guitar phrases and optimistic passages.

They claim their music to be a "Sort of fusion of baggy Madchester, Psychedelia, and the sonics of Shoegaze rolled into one”, with this being evident in the lead singer, Will Brown, paying tribute to the nasal vocal deliveries of Liam Gallagher on tracks like This Dream of Mine. Some other personal highlights include the title track from their 2023 FREEDOM EP - it's a dreamy headbanger with an energy reminiscent of Franz Ferdinand, but with its coats of reverb making it akin to The War On Drugs or Wolf Alice on something like Moaning Lisa Smile.

Speaking of EPs, Marseille's GODIVA EP is highly anticipated and will hopefully take Indie Rock to new heights; they'll be touring it up and down the UK in September of this year. "It's the start of something ground-breaking," says the lead singer, Will Brown (19), a uni student and artistic prodigy in his field. He’s managed to bridge the gap between optimistic Indie Shoegaze and Big Beat. Plus, he and the band have had their tunes remixed into 90s inspired house tracks by names like Ian McCoy and Vega Rally; the latter having gigged with the band a few times and even remixed their song Jungle into a mesmerising Big Beat/Acid House track with a thumping breakbeat, distant guitar licks, a classic acidic lead, and without a doubt Will’s chopped up atmospheric singing.

It is quite difficult to think forward to the future of Indie Rock. Thom Yorke, Jack White and Debbie Harry are all musicians out of their prime. But with Marseille and their contemporaries, I think we should be prepared for a Rock revival that could be just around the corner.