‘One to watch’ isn’t a term I use often, but my second time seeing Cousin Marnie, at Stoke Newington’s The Waiting Room last night, has cemented her as someone to keep an eye on as I think she’s got something a bit special.
I first saw her support for Woman’s Hour in April, and while the main attraction was as hauntingly lovely live as expected, it was Cousin Marnie who blew me away with her ‘gothic Taylor Swift’ act – her girlish white-skater-dress-and- tennis-shoes look at odds with her dark, synthy, and moodily mysterious tunes.
Hackney local Cousin Marnie is fresh off the back of a stint at SXSW as part of Steve Lamacq’s BBC Introducing stage and starting to headline her own shows, with last night’s gig following a previous headline spot at the Sebright Arms in March. Festival wise, she’ll be playing at Dot to Dot and Bestival in coming months.
Her sound and style bring to mind a bit of early Bat for Lashes. In fact, she’s worked with Bat for Lashes producer David Kosten on latest EP ‘Cain’, so that goes some way towards explaining that. She is also astonishingly pretty, but don’t let that distract you from her clever way of making old songs news through Cousin Marnie eyes. The songs merge all the storytelling of country music with electronic edginess and hip-hop beats. And she cites influences as far apart as Loretta Lynn and Kanye West, if you can imagine that. It’s hard to classify but very compelling.
Last night’s eight-song set was played on a stage adorned with luminous plastic bunnies, furthering that little girl innocent meets goth priestess juxtaposition that’s part of her appeal.
The song that lingers longest is an old Carter Family cover, You’ve Been Fooling Me Baby, re-worked and revamped to a form that’s far from its bluegrass roots. I’ve since read that her debut EP ‘Is Sleeping’ covers four Carter Family tracks, but if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t recognise them.
Other standout tracks were Til Death Do Us Part, which has an abandoned fairground, broken-Wurlitzer feel and slightly sinister lyrics; and Cain, from the new EP, which tells a biblical tale over big beats. It’s crying out for use on some sort of film noir soundtrack.
The whole set was delivered with dramatic intensity and, in my opinion, she really has a sound that’s unlike any other at the moment. I’d go so far as to say I’m now a fan and I’m really looking forward to seeing what else she produces in future.
by Patricia Turk
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