FLYING OUT'S #1 ALBUM OF 2022
From singing about a party boy to sounding like one on his toe tapping new record, Marlon Williams knocked it out of the park with this one. Hip swinging, eye twinkling good times
My Boy, the third solo record from New Zealand singer/songwriter Marlon Williams, announces an artist emerging anew. Gone is the solemn, country-indebted crooner with the velvet voice – in his place comes a playful, shapeshifting creature.
Following the release of his second album, 2018’s Make Way For Love, Williams’ toured the world, playing major festivals and collaborating with Lorde, Yo-Yo Ma and Florence Welch. He also forged a fledgling acting career with roles in films The True History of the Kelly Gang and Netflix series Sweet Tooth, as well as a cameo in Oscar winning film A Star Is Born. My Boy parlays this flush of worldly experience into a vivid record as spirited and kinetic as the unfolding life of its performer.
As the pandemic paused global travel, Williams found himself at home in New Zealand, reconnecting with family and friends. Soon new demos and lyrical themes emerged: of self-identity and escapism; tribalism and a gnarled family tree; and ruminations on the role of masculinity and mateship.
Co-produced with Tom Healy and recorded at Roundhead Studios in New Zealand, My Boy finds Williams’ leading a new band through a set of genre-hopping tunes: from the cheery sway of My Boy and chugging ‘80s noir sheen of Thinking Of Nina, to the charging synth of River Rival, and the sultry pop jam Don’t Go Back. All this sonic and emotional whiplash is intentional, and ultimately My Boy sees Williams having fun, even while interrogating the behaviours of himself and those around him.
Tracklist
- My Boy
- Easy Does It
- River Rival
- My Heart The Wormhole
- Princess Walk
- Don’t Go Back
- Soft Boys Make The Grade
- Thinking Of Nina
- Morning Crystals
- Trips
- Promises