SONG OF THE DAY Marching Church – Heart Of Life

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Best known as the singer of Iceage, Elias Bender Rønnenfelt has recently unveiled plans for his second album as Marching Church.   For me this is a relatively new discovery, but one that I am definitely enjoying.

Titled ‘Telling It Like It Is,’ the albums first two available tracks include the sensuously slinky ‘Lions Den’  and the contrasting, more upbeat sounds of ‘Heart Of Life’.

Marching Band’s current group features collaborator and Iceage bandmate Johan S. Weith (electric viola, guitar), Lower’s rhythm section of Kristian Emdal (bass) and Anton Rothstein (drums), Jakob Emil Lamdahl (trumpet) and Hand of Dust’s Bo Høyer Hansen (guitar). These sessions were complemented by Maaike Van der Linde (flute) and Thora Sveinsdottir (strings) of the Stargaze Orchestra, and the Choir of Young Believers’ Sonja La Bianca (saxophone), with overall production by Escho’s Nis Bysted.

First single ‘Heart Of Life’ kicks off on a buoyant beat, its melody and vocals reminiscent to that of The Cure’s ‘Close To You.’ It continues on this bouncy theme until it reaches the chorus where both the pace and mood alters and gets darker, shifting into something I’d expect to hear from a Bad Seeds album.  The transition works like a dream, its unique transformation moving from the sunshine into the shadows before effortlessly returning to the light once more; ‘Heart of Life’ beats with a dark and unpredictable charm.  Check it out above.

‘Telling It Like It Is’ will be released on October 28th via Sacred Bones Records