"Marmalade making on a cold winters day / Stirring that pot ’til the marmalades made / It’s not quite as good as my mother’s own jam / That reminds me of youth and a life I could stand..."
The purely homespun embraceful merrymaking of "Marmalade Making", by the wonderful London based folk / baroque-pop four piece Tugboat Captain, feels both nostalgic, rustic and the kind of fresh air that we all could use during these semi-dark times. The opening strains which I imagine might be a blend of piano, fiddle, accordion, bass and assorted handclaps feels so exquisitely comfy like a thick knit sweater on a blustery cold day. I also love the vocals that are, quite frankly, so easy to love. There is the sense of an Irish drinking song but also a strong sense of the kind of baroque pop that Brian Wilson would dip into, maybe because dipping into harpsichords and french horns (at the time) pushed so far away from the pop aesthetic of the day that doing so felt subversive. I feel those dashes of subversions here too amid the marmalade making, plus poignant whimsy and feelings of family love and dearly departed family love as well.
Tugboat Captain smartly starts with the hugs and kisses chorus pulling you into the warmth that you might be craving but then dips into the kind of muck we all face.
And the rent is a joke
The air tastes like shit
And my flat’s filled with smoke
So i’ll buy myself fruit
Even though I am broke
And I’ll make myself jam
To remind me of home"
It is like youthful remembrances save us from all that ails us, that can slowly kill us. I can tell you personally that for anyone who is empathetic and cares about society and cultural change, seeing the direction of things, the devolution in from of our eyes, the embracing of oligarchs and fascists is unsettling. Sometimes the simplest of things can pull you out of any depressive state you find yourself in. My wife and I set up a DIY birdfeeder off our front balcony and I swear to you that during some of my darkest times / feelings, just seeing the tiniest of birds bathing or having a meal and drink makes me somehow feel hopeful. Things like that or glances at old family photos, spending time with loved ones and even making marmalade jam can mean everything.
"Marmalade making on a cold winters day
Stirring that pot ’til the marmalades made
It’s not quite as good as my mother’s own jam
Stirring that pot ’til the marmalades made
It’s not quite as good as my mother’s own jam
That reminds me of youth and a life I could stand"
"Marmalade Making" is a modern folk song about living in the city, pining for youth and missing the comforts of a family home. - Tugboat Captain
"Marmalade Making" is a modern folk song about living in the city, pining for youth and missing the comforts of a family home. - Tugboat Captain
-Robb Donker Curtius
https://tugboatcaptain.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/tugboat_captain/
https://www.facebook.com/TheTugboatCaptain/
Born in 2017 as the solo project of London based multi-instrumentalist Alexander Sokolow, Tugboat Captain have morphed over three albums and a handful of EP's into an ambitious baroque-pop four piece. Growing from 2017's moody lo-fi debut 'The Tugboat Captain' through jangly, folk-inflected sophomore record 'Everybody Seem's To Think That I'm A Raincloud', into the murky waters of a 2020 lockdown the band released their debut studio album, 'Rut'. On Rut the band emerged from the sonic limitations of homespun bedroom-pop accompanied by a ramshackle orchestra of friends with a grand, symphonic pop record which lost none of the intimacy of the previous work that garnered significant critical acclaim across the UK DIY community.
Tugboat Captain, folk, baroque pop, indie rock, folk indie, storytelling, embracing music, communal music, DIY London band, Alexander Sokolow, rustic, pub and porch folk, "Marmalade Making" (Official Video),
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://tugboatcaptain.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/tugboat_captain/
https://www.facebook.com/TheTugboatCaptain/
Born in 2017 as the solo project of London based multi-instrumentalist Alexander Sokolow, Tugboat Captain have morphed over three albums and a handful of EP's into an ambitious baroque-pop four piece. Growing from 2017's moody lo-fi debut 'The Tugboat Captain' through jangly, folk-inflected sophomore record 'Everybody Seem's To Think That I'm A Raincloud', into the murky waters of a 2020 lockdown the band released their debut studio album, 'Rut'. On Rut the band emerged from the sonic limitations of homespun bedroom-pop accompanied by a ramshackle orchestra of friends with a grand, symphonic pop record which lost none of the intimacy of the previous work that garnered significant critical acclaim across the UK DIY community.
Tugboat Captain, folk, baroque pop, indie rock, folk indie, storytelling, embracing music, communal music, DIY London band, Alexander Sokolow, rustic, pub and porch folk, "Marmalade Making" (Official Video),
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