Marble Raft – Marble Halls

“Marble Halls” is the latest release by Marble Raft, an extraordinary Swedish duo based in Stockholm. Released on January 10th, this outstanding composition arrives as the first piece of work in 2025, serving as an adequate continuation of “To Have And To Hold And To Break,” and “Rites Of Passage“ two marvelous singles released last year that you should also put on your music radar as soon as possible. Lyrically, “Marble Halls” finds two characters roaming through posh abandoned apartments and grand halls in a ghostly metropolis. They vividly depict this adventure through storytelling lyricism, and many listeners will find this theme highly relatable. Therefore, it’s one of those songs that will resonate with the broader auditorium not only musically, but lyrically as well. Soundwise, Marble Raft combines several complementary music genres in order to vividly depict a lush, luxuriant, expansive sonic universe where pleasant vocal harmonies and mesmerizing orchestrations collide harmoniously. Perhaps indie pop comes to mind, but don’t be surprised if you stumble upon some of the finest properties borrowed from dream pop, psych pop, shoegaze, and many other similar music styles. Olle Söderström and Gabrielle Werme Baker, masterminds behind this incredible music outlet,  use all these additional elements as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details to elevate their latest composition to new heights. Therefore, these experimentations with many different but complementary styles resulted in a calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal, catchy, memorable, engaging number that will immediately wrap around your listening apparatus and refuse to let go long after this song ends. 

From the onset, it becomes apparent that Olle Söderström and Gabrielle Werme Baker poured heart and soul into this track. “Marble Halls” arrives with a comprehensive collection of brilliant ideas and marvelous instrumentations wrapped in a perfect song structure. Each segment pulls you into the whirlwind of various sentiments, moods, situations, and circumstances even more, as the song envelops into an entire sonic universe of its own with each new vocal harmony, sonic, or rhythmic maneuver. Of course, fascinating, passionate, sincere, confident, emotional, and powerful vocal harmonies are the centerpiece of this composition. Their separate and collective vocal performances command attention and guide the listening apparatus from scratch to finish, engaging the listener in the entire process. Their impressive vocal ranges seamlessly balance low, mid, and high notes, decorating all those segments and instrumentations. It’s also nearly mindblowing how all these vocal arrangements emphasize everything they intended to achieve with this song. In the meantime, the interplays between guitars and synths create a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. You’ll notice how twelve-string guitars deliver grandiose regular and arpeggiated chord progressions on one side while the other side shines with mesmerizing themes, melodies, harmonies, sequences, ambiances, swirls, accentuations, and other sonic maneuvers. Each layer is carefully crafted to satisfy even the pickiest music enthusiasts and it seems like these orchestrations gradually become even more complex, creating an atmosphere rarely heard or seen in dream pop music nowadays. Also, it’s good to mention that all these instrumentations match vocals harmoniously, making “Marble Halls” such a pleasant listening experience worth repeating over and over again.

This composition wouldn’t resonate with such precision and finesse without an equally important rhythm section. The basslines are subtle yet vividly hearable, binding all those synths and guitars with rhythmic patterns while offering more than enough heaviness, clarity, and depth. Marble Raft skillfully blended these rich, dense, luxuriant, heavy low-ends with the remainder of the orchestrations, contributing more power to the track. For this song, Marble Raft decided to use a 5/4 time signature, an unusual move rarely heard in dream pop music, but it’s a wise move that gives even more complexity to an already profoundly detailed composition. You’ll stumble upon all those magnificent, tastefully assembled, flawlessly programmed, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics, keeping everything in line while dictating groove and tempo. The duo paid attention to even the tiniest details and nuances, so if the guitars and synths act as a backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon, then the bass and drums serve as a backbone, holding everything together in line. Marble Raft thought about everything while writing, composing, arranging, and recording their latest single. They paid homage to all these longevous music genres but also found their ways to break all the rules and shapeshift all the boundaries in order to deliver an otherworldly listening experience that will not only appeal to the dream pop, indie pop, and shoegaze fans but also indulge listening apparatuses of those picky music enthusiasts looking for a cleverly assembled and flawlessly performed music. Marble Raft is one of the finest indie duos whose collective ideas and musicianship shine in the limelight all the time, proving that indie music can still sound fresh, unique, exciting, and majestic. You should immediately place “Marble Halls” on your listening radar. The single is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!