Album Review: Marlon Williams, My Boy

“Don’t go back to the party, everyone thinks they know you,” Marlon Williams sings on ‘Don’t Go Back’, a mantra which may sum up his approach on My Boy. It’s a record that differs considerably from the alt-country and classic rock style of his debut, or the baroque pop of its follow-up Make Way For Love.

Those albums – arching from Marty Robbins to Richard Hawley, with a decent helping of The Shirelles and Gene Pitney – provided hints of the shapeshifting My Boy plunges head-first into. This is a bold record, at times recalling Joe Jackson, skirting Bowie and routing Bill Callaghan; at others, exploring Duran Duran/Spandau Ballet territory. Of course, that gamut of sounds marks Williams as a singular artist. The title-track, a love letter from one man to another, is starkly beautiful.

Indeed, the arrangements remain compelling throughout. On ‘Easy Does It’, swampy, sticky orchestral strings rub against arcade game synths. And on ‘River Rival’, the murky depth charges wash against Bee Gees-style disco. Elsewhere, there’s the Beach Boys-like surf-rock of ‘Morning Crystals’, not to mention the stunning ‘Thinking Of Nina’ – a song worth the admission price alone.

8/10