Thomas J Marchant - I Of The Storm

Hear The Track Here

Now don't be taking that tone with me, you should have read the review before you went poking around in the eye of that storm. You obviously thought that UK singer/songwriter Thomas J Marchant is the svelte, debonair indie crooner his latest tracks portray him as, but I'd have warned you that beneath that calm, collected exterior beats the heart of a complete lunatic. For the rest of you who didn't go plunging straight into Thomas's heart of darkness, allow me to explain. Over the last three or four years Thomas has become a primo songwriter and performer, definitely one of my favourite finds and getting known with each succeeding mini-masterpiece, OK, I'll concede that these masterpieces may very well be a personal choice of mine (I did choose him as Artist Of The Year 2009 after all) and won't appeal to everyone but I find that most people appreciate his style.

Well, wait until they get an ear full of I Of The Storm which, I kid ye not, does exactly what it says on the tin. This is a track that should come with an aural health warning. It's still undeniably a Thomas J Marchant track, but with an undertone and atmosphere that - for me anyway - harkens back to when I first met this musician. quotes like 'an acquired taste if you usually like more accessible music' and 'the first 10 seconds of this will have you banging on your system trying to make it sound right' were a regular feature so, as aurally wild as I Of The Storm is, it is also part of the man's roots. Thomas overlays the song with what sounds like an incredibly distorted guitar and several distinctly dodgy (but kinda cool) keyboard lines.

So, in effect, I always make a bit of allowance for his sonic ideas but even this one fazed me. I can only imagine what it would do to the unwary like our friend in the opening paragraph. That is not to say that this is a bad track, Thomas doesn't make those any more, but that it is different enough to take some getting used to, even for long-term fans like myself. I did find, however, that the actual song grew on me once I was able to prise it out of the background aural storm so repeated plays for this bad boy are a must. In the meantime it's left me wondering if we are looking at a whole new direction for this musician to stretch himself into...

Recommended Shoegaze.