Alexis Marshall
House of Lull, House of When
Sargeant House
Alexis Marshall could well be known to you as the singer in Daughters. With House of Lull, House of When he has created a debut solo album where, in his own words, he has melted 80 crayons together and scratched them all out. This is not an album for those seeking tunes to get them through the day. It is a reflection of a mind trying to come to terms with what is going on in this crazy busy world, trying to make sense when sometimes there is no sense to be made.
It is the Sound of a darkened room, lighting intermittently with a broken light. In this furniture less room with faded pain on the walls and concrete on the floor there is someone cowering in the corner, wondering why they are here. With noises coming at them sporadically as they callout and wonder what the hell is going on. This is an apocalyptical soundtrack to a world gone mad. Using implements as instruments we hear paint cans, air vents, sandpaper amongst piano and scrap metal. This is industrial in the Einsturzende Neubaten manner with no structure to the song, much like life as we wonder what will happen next.
Imagine a city left burned to the ground, nothing around except eerie silence. Then in the distance, underneath the rubble there is a cry out. “i am here”. This is what Marshall proclaims in “Drink from The Oceans, Nothing Can harm You”. And with that the light starts shining once more. As an album opener it is the perfect introduction to the poetry and sporadic sound involved. Its atmospheric heartfelt spoken word cries out with wonder.
A drum beat emerges in Hounds of the Abyss as Marshall wonders “Are you the one who has been standing outside my house when I’m alone”. A sneering beat again trying to figure out answers and it continues in this manner. Brooding, dark, eerie with words to accompany the darkness, interspersed with noises like an erratic fly against a broken electric flykiller acting up.
It may not be an easy listen but is intriguing
“Stay Where you Are. You are expected to meet your obligations”
he screams as the cacophony of noises fly around during ‘it Doesn’t feel good anymore’ This is almost a challenge to you to listen to, an intermittent explosion interlaced with male female screaming trying to make sense
Each song is a landscape of broken windows, broken bombed out towns, abandoned and left to rot, what happens next – well Marshall can rest easy after posing the question.
niallhope
