KOOL ROCK RADIO: 07/27/21

Brooklyn, NY // L.A synth-wave/post punk artist Black Marble (aka Chris Stewart) has announced the release of his fourth studio album 'Fast Idol'.

The follow-up to 2019's Bigger Than Life, will be out on October 22 through Sacred Bones Records, Stewart writes and plays everything himself. Pre-order it here.

Fast Idol sees Stewart return to a sentiment and process that defined the earlier days of Black Marble, in a return to his intuitive song writing process where songs land as impressionistic snippets of daily conflicts, and people struggle with the challenge of trying to move through the world. “People don’t expect me to be responsible for altering their outlook or mood, they come to hear something that meets them where they are. I trusted on this record that if I stayed in that space and created things from that more mysterious place, it would connect with others.”

Melodies roll with the fizz and charm of Jacno and phrases repeated are electric torchlight ballads sung after hours in William Gibson’s San Francisco. 'Somewhere' opens in sombre herald, before dropping into a fast freeway tempo; the glassy synths and crisp beats cut through the anxious moods on 'Bodies' and 'Try' sits in a lineage with cult bands like Asylum Party. 'The Garden' is a journey through a post-apocalyptic cityscape, earthed by the pulse of a drum machine whereas 'Ship To Shore' could be a lost Oppenheimer Analysis B-side, and the album’s closer 'Brighter and Bigger' catches a sentiment like The Dadacomputer has learned to feel emotions.

"On my previous album I was more specific about the themes I was talking about," Stewart says. "Fast Idol goes back to the songwriting on my early records, where the themes were guided by intuition and instinct – often, their meanings only become clear to me after they're written."

Fast Idol sees Black Marble face the rising tide of uncertainty, leaving our future selves to trace its signal as its frequencies echo into an interstellar expanse, looking for a receiver. He says: "I want my music to stick with you after I leave, even though you might not feel like you’re any closer to knowing it."

Check out the album's tracklist and listen to "Somewhere", below.

Bigger Than Life Tracklist:

01. Somewhere

02. Bodies

03. Royal Walls

04. Try

05. The Garden

06. Say it First

07. Streetlight

08. Ceiling

09. Ship to Shore

10. Preoccupation

11. Brighter and Bigger