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Marley Carroll – Voices Listening Party, $5
April 13, 2023 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Join Asheville-based musician Marley Carroll on Thursday, April 13, for a listening party. Hear Marley’s new record, Voices, along with some stories about what inspired the songs and how they were created. Voices is an all-Asheville project, from the music, to the art, to the production, and it was recently pressed at Citizen Vinyl.
6-9 p.m., $5 at the door (includes discount coupon to purchase the record).
This year has seen a welcome return from acclaimed DJ / producer Marley Carroll, continuing an impressive legacy of immersive downtempo and electronica-laced work with a trio of stellar new singles via his own Melanaster Records imprint.
Showcasing a new dancefloor-oriented direction, the tracks have picked up support at an exceptional pace, gathering spins across BBC Radio 1 (Sian Eleri, Decompression Session), BBC 6 Music (Huey Morgan), Radio Ibiza and RTÉ 2FM, all while generating eager anticipation for his new EP, ‘Voices.’
Album opener ‘Heartbeats’ immediately draws in listeners with a gorgeous blend of velvety synths, two-step dance beats and an infectious interplay of hooky bass lines and formant-shifted vocal samples, establishing an unabashedly UK-inspired palette for the EP.
The moodier follow-up ‘Cathedral’ turns up the heat with a modern take on classic underground club music, evoking essential elements of electro and UKG. A massive supersaw bass and expertly-tuned breakbeat drums provide a foundation rich with low-end while ribbons of vocal snippets weave together on the hook.
Soulful, slower breaks in the third track ‘Stay’ offer a cooled-down intermission, casting a knowing nod back to Marley’s earlier downtempo productions and acting as a musical conduit between past and present. Conjuring memories of MPC classics like Endtroducing, wistful vocals give way to a liberating outro, making this track well- equipped for both the lounge and the dancefloor.
Album finisher ‘The One’ recaps the classic rave energy that defines Voices with an emotionally-charged, high- octane finale. Aching, reverb-drenched vocals tug at the heartstrings over propulsive breakbeats and vintage house piano stabs, bringing this EP to a dramatic and poignant close.
The emotional resonance of Voices lingers long after a first listen and this record seems destined to become both a DJ staple and essential listening for fans of underground dance music like DJ Seinfeld, Godford, and Caribou. Signaling a sea change in Carroll’s signature sound, the cohesiveness and quality on display here is undeniable and provides a brilliant anticipatory window into what’s next for this talented producer.
It’s no surprise that Carroll has consistently garnered high praise from artists and fans alike, sharing stages with scene luminaries Floating Points, Bonobo and Mura Masa on the live circuit, counting press heavyweights Pitchfork, XLR8R and Exclaim! as fans, and receiving international radio support from iconic tastemaker stations including BBC Radio 1, KCRW and KEXP in addition to significant editorial playlisting across all the major streaming sites.
