Marylane — Grow & Fade

Music as existential cinema, anybody? Marylane, the Zürich based Indie-Pop trio return with a sophomore release – an elegant, mesmeric soundtrack to a fictitious movie called Grow and Fade. This is the equivalent of a deep, emotionally wrenching art-house affair. We all know know what it feels like to walk out of a cinema after seeing an amazing flick, and being unable to fully return to reality afterwards – still processing the world through the director’s eyes. This is what Marylane’s music will do to you.

Grow and Fade was written and recorded over a period of three years; polished, perfected and revised (countless times) until it became what it is today. The core elements of the record were penned and committed to tape in a dusty wine cellar in Chexbres, with a perfect view on Lac Léman aka Lake Geneva. The setting might account for why these songs sound so inspired and awe-inspiring. Like Kate Bush or Björk, Marylane have an uncanny ability to channel the intensity of the forces of nature with the scope of their compositions and arrangements. 

As much as the music resonates with the epic expressions of nature, the lyrics draw from the inexhaustible wellspring of urban culture and some of its more pronounced, peripheral ills. Vocalist Larissa Bretcher, who is also the group’s key lyricist, has a rare talent of creating emotionally tumultuous scenarios for her alter ego and the record’s key protagonist. Through this we get to experience the plagues of our zeitgeist first-hand: the culture of narcissism, the overwhelming vertigo caused by rampant information overload, the collapsing of personal space and the paradoxical expression of our mediated inter-connectedness i.e. our deepening, paralysing loneliness. 

In total, eleven people were involved in making Grow and Fade – all fellow musicians and friends. The colourful cast features: James Vargnese of ODD BEHOLDER (bass), Dominique Dreyer of Klischée (arrangements), Roland Wäspe (guitar), Linda Vogel (harp); Timo Keller, Manuel Egger and Lars Christen (recording) and Timo Loosli (mixing and sound design).  Production was handled by the band’s drummer, Nicolas Stocker, who also happens to be one of the most sought after drummers in Switzerland and a part of Nik Bärtsch's Mobile outfit. Christian Wyss (synth & guitar) describes the creative journey this record undertook as a steady oscillation between love and hate – each asserting itself at a different stage of the campaign. That is, until, the music found its ultimate expression and everybody involved was more than satisfied. The feat of finding the perfect balance and tension between so many unique voices and aesthetic nuances can only be described as a symphonic polyphony. The effect is a challenging, intelligent Pop record and a singular musical statement.

Marylane are: Larissa Bratscher (vocals, synths), Christian Wyss (synths, guitars, backing vocals) and Nicolas Stocker (drums, synths.) The trio is based in Zurich, Switzerland and are busy as all hell making some of the most ambitious Pop around.