Oliver Marson has today premiered his new video for the track titled ‘Manipulator’. Beautifully dark and twisted, like if David Lynch and Tim Burton teamed up with a hefty budget type of dark, Oliver uses ‘Manipulator’ to flex and sway a decadent hook and signature sound the only way a true artist can. The simple fact that the video was filmed by Oliver and his sister (details below) shows, even more, that this is an artist with a vision.
The video embraces the postpunk sonic paraphernalia and visual starkness of a post noir film with an ’80s flair. Sadly socially relevant on every level in every way, ‘Manipulator’ highlights the dark side of capitalism in excess where the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many and those few do what they can to fulfill their narcissistic needs.
Is ‘Manipulator’ a warning? And, if so, should that warning sound so good? Yes. Because that makes it memorable.
About Oliver Marson
Having teamed up with Jorge Elbrecht (Kirin J Callinan, No Joy) and Joshua Rumble (Black Country New Road) to achieve this sound on his upcoming album and singles. Oliver Marson blends music from the 60s, 70s and 80s to create a catchy baroque pop sound. This is ludicrous music for ludicrous times and satire for life in late capitalism.
His lyrics take more from contemporary rap artists like Danny Brown rather than the current zeitgeist of guitar bands, because of their provocative nature. “Manipulator” features Christina Lopez on drums (Lava la rue, Empathy Test), Charles Cave on bass (White Lies) and backup vocals from Maya Harrisson (For Breakfast).
About ‘Manipulator’
Manipulator is the first track recorded with Joshua Rumble (Black Country New Road, Clockworks) and mixed by Jorge Elbrecht (Ariel Pink, Kirin J Callinan). Me and Josh had a lot of fun recording over the pandemic and now its finally time to throw these tracks out into the world.
The track also features Christina Lopez (Empathy Test, Lava la Rue). Guitars, synths and vocals are played by myself. We recorded this in the pandemic alongside many other tracks, which will be released this year. When I made this I was very much inspired by the guitar sound of Drab Majesty, whose influences I am sure you will hear. Also mastered by Nick Watson at Fluid Mastering.
The video was filmed by me and my sister Chantal Marson around Canary Wharf and in an unused office. The first line of the song and overarching message is that ”we’re sleepwalking with the loonies at the wheel’ and we tried to get across this in the video through me playing a dodgy Wall Street banker. Obvious influences being American Psycho, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Wall Street and A Shock to the System. I enjoyed very much performing as this campy character, it was fun and I loved the DIY approach we took to filming it.
Thanks also to Max Mason for helping me with the video edit on this one!
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/oliver.marson
https://twitter.com/oliver_marson
https://www.instagram.com/oliver.marson
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5RnSyyvP83BF7uxXa9qHOr?si=bFtuS957R7-thL_BUIyFOA
https://olivermarson.bandcamp.com
