Today I have the great pleasure of writing about a genre that is severely underrepresented in our local music scene, at least to the best of my knowledge: alt-pop! Marcy has been around for about three years but in that short amount of time she has managed to hit quite a few milestones, with the next big one being the release of her debut EP, Backwoods, which is scheduled for October 30th.
Right off the bat, the one aspect that fascinates me the most about the eight tracks as a whole, is their diversity on one hand, but most of all their, for lack of a better word, ripeness, on the other. Every song is thought through from start to finish, and every single layer adds more depth. On top of that, there is not a single song that feels out of place or like a filler song that was written as an afterthought to fill the EP.
And yet these twenty-two minutes manage to never repeat themselves either, with every song having a clear and distinct personality and sound. The aforementioned layers play a major role in that, because loads of hidden tiny details in the instrumentation round off the package very nicely and even after my tenth playthrough I felt like I discovered new ones.
The same goes for the vocals that just hit the exact right spot on their own, but are enhanced with occasional minor vocal effects and harmonies to make certain melodies pop even more. There is also a vocal feature by Trouble In Paradize on the song Valentine, that did nothing for me on my first listen…but I must say that it grew on me over time and I must say that it pushes the song to the next level.
Lyrically, I would say that while the wheel is not being reinvented, it is very nicely polished: they present a maturity and eloquence that make them ever so important and relevant. The standout being the song Ida that has German lyrics and might feature my favorite chorus on here, along with being an extremely catchy song in the first place.
All in all, Backwoods is a brilliant (first) entry into a very promising new artist, and I for one am looking forward to what the future holds for Marcy. As mentioned in the beginning, the EP will be released tomorrow along with a concert at Rockhal. For more information, head to her Instagram page and be sure to watch the video for Black Paint below.