Marmalade Mountain just released their fourth full length album entitled “Strange Angels.” This album is much less mechanical and rock oriented then most of Marmalade Mountain’s previous albums. 

The album opens up with “Drawing Circles on the Ground,” a contemplation on the mundane nature of everyday life. This slow paced song is short and sweet and is a perfect transition into the next song, “Bad News.”

“Bad News” expresses the artist’s disinterest in the unpleasant state of the world. He states, “tired of reading more bad things, tired of staring at my phone, and I’m tired of feeling all alone.” The chorus brings us up with the lyrics “I’m not gonna let it bring me down, I don’t wanna be the one with a big old frown.” This song reflects on the negativity of the world around us, and, in the writer’s words, “doing the best I can.”

“The One” is my favorite song on this album, mostly because the bassline in this song carries beautifully throughout. The guitar riffs are fantastic and well-crafted. The song starts quietly and picks up into guitar, bass, drums and harmonica solo. The song’s lyrics are lighthearted, and overall it’s just very fun to listen to.

“Many Years Ago” dwells on the past. It dives into wanting to live in past moments, wanting to be someone you once were. This song is simple and also has a very good guitar riff during the bridge of the song. 

“Allergies” also has a very good bassline, and takes on a bluesy sound. The title explains the whole song very well, it’s just a song about seasonal allergies. Something most of us can relate to very well, being stuck inside feeling sick, when we would rather be spending our time not being attacked by allergies. 

One of my other favorites on the album, “This town is ******* Insane” is just very silly. My favorite lyric, “Walking around feeling weird, the other day I saw a cat walking a lady with a beard,” captures the absurdity of the whole song. It’s definitely a good song if you are looking for a laugh. 

I really love the songwriting style on this album. It seems as though he writes whatever comes to mind, whether silly or serious, while still keeping every song light. “Thinkin’ Bout A Girl” is a song about a crush. He narrates his thoughts through the song, and instead of coming off sappy or weird, it comes off very sweet and playful. 

“Memories” is slow paced and calming. It has a cute little flute solo and explains the burden of memories on his brain. “Sit and spend some time with my memories of you.” 

This album perfectly captures the simple things in life. Marmalade Mountain writes about the past, the present, and the future, and he doesn’t play it up like many other songwriters, it just is what it is. 

If you enjoy folk music and an easy listen, I would definitely recommend “Strange Angels.”