Appreciators of the dulcet-voiced Marlon Williams will know him as a country folk singer from New Zealand whose balladry often skews sombre and bittersweet. No longer. Williams’s third solo album, My Boy, packs in old timey joy as well as old timey sorrow, then adds surprisingly contemporary touches. The title track is replete with beatific “doot-doot-doos”, a sweet love song that’s a far cry from his other ode to a boy, 2015’s Dark Child (that one dies tragically young). Easy Does It, urges another tune – backed up by a video worthy of the New Zealand tourist board of Williams and friends splashing about on the coast. His Māori heritage is felt, either through language, or through the rhythmic strum of the guitars.
Williams recently toured with Lorde. The pandemic seems to have prompted an increased appreciation of their homeland, and chilling out in general, in these two Kiwi artists. And when he’s not channelling good vibes, Williams seems to be embracing his inner synth-pop heart-throb. There are blooping keys and retro drum machines on River Rival; Thinking of Nina feels like a long-lost hit from the 80s. Even better is Soft Boys Make the Grade, a tune that relocates Williams’s gothic bent into a killer soft-rock tune in which he sidles into someone’s direct messages.
