Roughly six months ago, Sacred Bones reissued Etazhi, a 2018 album by Belarusian coldwave trio Molchat Doma. The album’s initial release had met no fanfare. But over the course of the following year it gained an enormous viral following, unofficially hosted on (essential) youtube channels like Mx. TV-8-301 and Harakiri Diat. It’s hard to identify why this music resonated so deeply and so broadly—but one thing was impossible to ignore. Coldwave was back, now a fully-fledged phenomenon that sprung sprinting from its late-80s grave.
Like it or not, the decade is survived by its dark side as its social upheavals rejoin us, lurching closer in the rear-view and groaning, “did you think I’d go down with Thatcher?” Sacred Bones have anticipated this for yonks, recording John Carpenter’s every sneeze and packaging them in limited-edition Pumpkin Orange, Arctic Blue, Fog Grey 2LP sets. But it’s Black Marble who is perhaps the label’s most earnest and endearing reflection of this style.
Here he appies his sonic approach to five covers from five different artists, somehow finding common ground between Robert Palmer and Grouper along the way. The bad news: the result is not altogether successful. Black Marble homogenises songs on this EP to the point that they blur into pastiches which, while diverting, can feel quite anonymous. Something is unwaveringly lost in translation, and none of the tracks threatens to dethrone their progenitors. Black Marble doesn’t bring enough of his own fire to compensate, either. It’s almost impressive that an EP situated within a genre defined by its apathetic delivery can feel phoned-in—but that’s unfortunately the case here.
Perhaps this assigns too much responsibility to a project which is, ultimately, throwaway. After all, Black Marble didn’t seek to record ‘old songs, but better’. He instead aimed to capture the trill of shaking up “an otherwise rehearsed feeling [live] set” by sprinkling in the material as a surprise. The problem is that we’re not listening to a live set; we’ve already seen the tracklist. The project consequently offers very little surprise at all.
The first four tracks of I Must Be Living Twice are at least energetic. Their guiding principle seems not to be limpid nostalgia, but something more immediate; an awareness that yes, people actually danced to this coldwave stuff and, yes, they still want to now, actually. It’s clear that Black Marble has a really admirable focus and understanding of their own style, and doesn’t imagine Joy Division playing to a motionless, reverent, hushed audience. But style here swamps substance, leaving a vague hauntological mess. The most exciting thing on here is ‘Poison Tree’, a Grouper cover which colours Liz Harris’ trademark spaces with a cold brutalism, and displays some wonderful production. This should tide most existing fans over until Black Marble’s next release, but it’s unlikely to win many new ones.
I Must Be Living Twice is available for pre-order and streaming here.
Words: Andrew O’Keefe