
Remember the first time you listened to Arcade Fire’s Funeral? How the instrumentation jumped out of the speakers and pricked your skin sending goosebumps up your spine? And in that moment we knew music as we listened to it was about to change. Well, I got a new skin-pricker for you, Margolnick. An as-of-yet unsigned individual from Charlotte, NC, Michael Drake released his debute album December 21st, last year.
Musicality
I hate to draw too much comparison, but imagine Arcade Fire’s Win Butler releasing a solo album. What I love about Margolnick is that he has such a …gosh, I don’t know how to put it, simpleness. But that’s not it either, there’s nothing plain about it. Amazingly versatile, he hasn’t polluted the tracks with too much noise, too much orchestration, but rather lace each song inline with the intended emotion. So rather than just trying to produce full sound-driven songs pumping emotion into the moment, Margolnick has seemingly approached each song emotionally first. Take “*Intermission”, the song is scored almost exclusively with voices and some percussion. It’s as if they where to say, our instruments also took the intermission.
Lyrically
I’ll let the lyrics speak for themselves, here’s just some samples:
The Order (link)
// up from the bottom, down through the block
// you feel your hands swing, you feel your knees your knock
// the anticipation of what you can’t ignore
// you throw your hands up, you throw your head back
// you feel you heart beat it’s a love attack // oh girl you make me feel the way I’ve never felt before.
The Roost
// The chief demands you kiss his ring, when all awhile he is no king
// shot your shot you throw another one
// the final days of the summer’s sun, have just begun
// you told me you will look inside, you’re too afraid of what you’ll find
// the truth is true no matter where you hide
// you better learn it quick or get left behind
// I’m in love with king’s daughter, I’m in love with the king’s daughter
// she’s in love with a diamond ring, she’ll sell her heart for anything
The Yard
// we forged our path through waste lands
// we won our tug-of-war
// we sought and pioneered those places, where other man dare not go
// we fought and killed the vicious demons, we tracked them to the fiery cove
// In spite that we are concurring heroes, I could not mend this heart too broke (?)
I love it, and I’m willing to bet you’ll love it too! And for a $5 donation, how can you say no? It’ll change you’re life!
Album
margolnick.bandcamp.com/
Contact
facebook.com/margolnick
facebook.com/michaelwdrake
twitter: @drakemargolnick