Black Marble is Chris Stewart and four years since his debut album, he’s ready to release ‘Its Immaterial’ on October 14th on his new home Ghostly. To wet our whistle, Stewart shares a third single from the album, Frisk, and you can take a listen via Soundcloud below.
Like Stranger Things’ otherworldly soundtrack, its built from a web of dewy synths, but it has little interest in frightening you…Stewart’s voice emerges as a slightly less dim light from among a network of barely flashing lights, his longing and the knocking synths behind him dopplering slightly, to strange effect; its like hearing someones heart break as their car drives past you.
Black Marble has also announced a string of west coast tour dates for the latter half of October – see full list of dates below.
October tour dates
10.14 San Diego, CA @ The Whistle Stop ^
10.15 Tempe, AZ @ 51 West
10.16 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo ~
10.17 Bakersfield, CA @ Narduccis
10.18 Modesto, CA @ The Shire *
10.19 Oakland, CA @ The Night Light *
10.20 Sacramento, CA @ The Red Museum *
10.21 Portland, OR @ The Secret Society Ballroom +
10.22 Vancouver, BC @ The Astoria *
10.23 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey *
^ w/ Chasms
~ w/ Ritual Howls, Chasms
* w/ Ritual Howls
+ w/ Ritual Howls, Soft Kill
The project’s recent shift in locale from East Coast to West Coast lends a great deal to the overall feel of the new album: the light and dark elements of shadows, the salt and sting of evenings high tide sea spray, a beautiful thing left on a shelf too high to maintain. The general mood is that of creating something new, but going back in time to do it. Like attempting to flesh out a song that you woke up humming but cant find because it doesn’t exist yet.
Written, recorded, mixed, and performed entirely by Stewart, the new songs are a unified vision – one persons attempt to patchwork together bits of vapor and the most subtle gleanings of preference to make something wholly new. It’s an endless drive in the passenger seat of a car while listening to everything youve ever loved, but lasting only 40 minutes.
It’s a lot of psychic turmoil about time, place, and the dissatisfaction that comes with being young and not having control over place, or being old and not having control over time, Stewart says about the album. The record is filled with characters trying to convince themselves, and others, to change or to see things differently or to come along with them somewhere. It’s that moment of wanting between knowing and doing but frozen in time.
Pre-order ‘Its Immaterial’ via the Ghostly store – theghostlystore.com/products/black-marble-its-immaterial or at the retailer of your choice – ghostly.lnk.to/black-marble
