• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Feb 21, 2018 Web Exclusive By Zach Hollwedel

Marlon Williams’ self-titled debut album was, out the gate, a fast-paced, foot-stomping, folk/country rush of blood that knocked you off your feet. Now, coming nearly two years to the day after its predecessor, Make Way for Love launches the young New Zealander in a completely different direction. Slow and pensive, the introspective sophomore release is the creative aftereffect of Williams’ recent breakup with his long-term girlfriend, fellow Kiwi musician Aldous Harding. Williams wrote 15 songs in a single month following the separation; having captured his complex emotions with such speed imbues the album with the senses of fresh, raw, exposed pain, longing, and even a glimmer of hopeful light at the end of the tunnel. The album doesn’t despair of the split; it takes the time to absorb it, to give such a painful breakup—and any like it—the full weighty consideration it deserves.

Make Way for Love is the soundtrack to a longing gaze across a mostly empty, darkly lit bar in which two lonely strangers find someone to spend the night with. It’s a meditation on love—and perhaps, at times, simply on companionship—that seems born to echo out the speakers of a convertible taken on a midnight drive. There’s something visceral about the album, which lulls the rest of the world into slow motion, leaving you alone to absorb it beat-by-beat, track-by-track. This is not the Marlon Williams of 2016—in more ways than one. (www.marlonwilliams.co.nz)

Author rating: 7.5/10