Hey Marseilles brings intelligent chamber pop to the High Noon saloon on Thursday Night at 8pm with opening act BAD BAD HATS. Hailing from Seattle Hey Marseilles has gained the attention of hipster luminaries like Luke Burbank – host of the podcast Too Beautiful to Live. “Beautiful” is in many respects the perfect word to describe the classically influenced ballads that the band has become famous for.
Band members Matt Bishop,Nick Ward, Philip Kobernik,Samuel Anderson,Jacob Anderson and Colin Richey are bringing violas,violins,cellos and mandolins with them on tour to celebrate the relse of their third album, a self-titled disc which finds them drawing on an unlikely influence – Anthony Kilhoffer – a grammy winning producer known more for his work with Kanye West, The Black Eyed Peas and Rihanna than for his indie credibility.
Realizing that this was a unique moment, the band began posting humourous quotes from the producer to Twitter. However, no man is an island and no band lives in a vacuum. For producer and band alike, the collaboration represented a fruitful opportunity to stretch boundaries and reconsider their sound.
While the band has a deep catalog of original music, they are also known for covers- such as Daniel Johnston's True Love Will Find You in the End. By tragic coincidence, the new album features a cover of the late David Bowie's “Heroes”. However, they are also known for their ability to write powerful music in their own words. One prime example of this is “Rio” – taken from their “To Travels and Trunks” release. The lyrical wordplay combined with the musical finger-playing creates stories within songs that demand retelling in order to be fully understood.
Having swooned over Jens Lekman and Jeff Buckley I immediately fell in love with the lush orchestral arrangements and intelligent lyrics of Hey Marseilles. It is perfect music for slow-dancing and deep thinking, good conversation and IPA beer sipping. Come and see the show, and I promise you – just as the song says “True Love Will Find You in the End.”
