Marla Mase – Half-Life

By Andrew Bansal

Even in her relatively short career thus far, New York-based singer/songwriter has gained fame and acclaim in the indie music world and has been somewhat of a missionary, an ambassador of her craft. Keeping her output prolific, less than a year after the release of her ‘Speak’ album, she put out the follow-up effort ‘Half-Life’ via True Groove Music on February 25th, an album that depicts a fusion of styles that promises to appeal to true rock lovers.

The album kicks off with a bluesy but lively heavy rock tune called ‘Drown In Blue’, presenting an intriguing combination of Marla Mase’s soulful voice and a meaty, dirty guitar tone that provides the right balance. There’s a good dosage of spoken-word as well, reminiscent of Jim Morrison to a large extent. It gives the album the best possible start one could have expected, and then goes into the contrasting title track, which showcases a darker, more seductive facet of Mase’s vocals with a minimal but apt amount of instrumentation to go with it, although the sax is more prominent and adds further to the expression of the song.

Next comes a club remix version of ‘Things That Scare Me’, a song originally part of Mase’s debut album ‘A Brief Night Out’, and in all honesty, even though this club version might find appreciation amongst a certain section of listeners, the song should have been left untouched as it sounds best in its original form. But the album quickly recovers and returns to the vibe it set with the first two songs, with ‘The Heart Beats’ offering yet more of the impressive Morrison-esque spoken-word style delivery by Mase. This is followed by a relatively upbeat ‘Gaping Hole’, an alternative/lounge rock track that does well to change things up a bit.

The acoustic reprise version of ‘Drown In Blue’ sounds excellent, and through its two different but equally impressive versions, the song is firmly established as the best composition on this album. From this, the album takes another wild turn and offers a funky rock track called ‘Bitch In Heat’, and ends out on a somber note with ‘Hold Fast Your Dreams’.

‘Half-Life’ enhances Marla Mase’s reputation as a songwriter and performer, and the passion in her musicianship is clearly felt in these tunes. The album definitely holds a strong appeal for listeners who admire the likes of The Doors and Lou Reed and enjoy rock with a bit of soul, spoken-word and funk interspersed in it. Metal Assault is certainly enjoying this album and recommends you to check it out.

Rating: 9/10

Record Label: True Groove

Release Date: February 25th 2014

Track Listing:
01. Drown In Blue
02. Half-Life
03. Things That Scare Me (2014 club version)
04. The Heart Beats (feat. Bill Laswell on bass)
05. Gaping Hole
06. Drown In Blue (reprise)
07. Bitch In Heat (feat. Charlie Funk)
08. Hold Fast Your Dreams

Links:
MarlaMase.com
facebook.com/pages/Marla-Mase/170044966351982
twitter.com/MarlaMase
MarlaMase.bandcamp.com

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