Marlin’s Dreaming embraces the quiet and the loud on "Outwards Crying" (Official Video)

photo by Ryan Helleur

Seven seconds in on Marlin's Dreaming's jagged, Outwards Crying, from their upcoming album, "Quotidian", amid a big drum beat, there is this lovely bit of guitar sustain that told me I was going to (likely) love this track. The sustain had been there from the beginning, really, but it peaked out at that time. I have been listening to so much music that sometimes it happens that fast, the crush that is. Moments later when Semisi Maiai’s vocals flow in with poetic choices I am fully entranced. The front man's vocal aesthetic, in and out of the kind of shoe gaze haze, is lush but down to earth and easy to fall head first into. The nimble and melodic bass lines slow dancing while only Maiai and the drums hold sway is so catchy and when everything else drops in a big wave of sound it is so impactful that you will have to push replay right away and often. 

Marlin's Dreaming is Semisi Maiai (vocals/guitar), Oscar Johns (bass) and Hamish Merchant (drums) and Leith Towers (lead guitar).

They are releasing their upcoming LP, "Quotidian", on April 24th 2020.

-Robb Donker Curtius




THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

Marlin’s Dreaming are a young band hailing from a cold, damp flat in Dunedin, New Zealand. In October 2017, just a couple of months after forming, Marlin’s Dreaming released their first body of work, Lizard Tears. It was an eight song mix of indie pop tasters, and one reworked track from frontman, Semisi Maiai’s, former band GROMz. The album reached huge popularity across streaming platforms worldwide, and transitioned into two sold out tours of New Zealand.

In 2018 Marlin’s Dreaming released their second body of work, Talk on Commic. The EP retains the wry humour of Lizard Tears, but is less mannered; a darker beast with 90’s fangs evoking many of the post-punk greats. This EP received support from popular Spotify and Apple playlists and Youtube Channels.

2019 proved to be another successful year, doing support slots with Kirin J Callinan, The Chills and Ocean Alley. They also managed to fit in three headline tours of their own, including 2 sold out runs in Australia.