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Marsha’s 3rd studio album, “Near Life Experience” is coming out on Jan 19th 2024. She is launching the album with a special live performance with her band at London’s Bush Hall. Get your Tickets from Dice here. Marsha will also be signing copies of the album. The album cover for “Near Life Experience” is a visual masterpiece designed by the legendary Storm Studios responsible for iconic creations for artists such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Muse. The new album features production from record producers Iestyn Polson and Henry "King Thumb” Thomas. Iestyn is a British music producer, engineer, songwriter, musician and mixer. He is best known for his work with David Gray, Patti Smith and David Bowie. Henry Thomas has played for endless international artists, and recorded on countless hit records, TV and film soundtracks. He is also famous for his role as Co-presenter and writer contributor of the BBC TV series Rockschool.

The album was recorded at Konk studios in London and Echo Zoo studios in Eastbourne. It features a stellar line up of musical talent including some of the U.K.’s top musicians. Drummers Martyn Barker, from Shriekback (who has also co-written and played with Billy Bragg, Marianne Faithfull, Goldfrapp, Robert Plant, Alain Bashung, & Ray Davies), Drummer Keith Prior (David Gray, Savage garden, Roger Taylor/Queen), Guitarist Tony Qunta (Odyssey, Hazel O’Conner, Imagination, and Zigaboo Modeliste (drummer of The Meters), Bassist Graham Knight (Simple Kid, Orphan Colours, Trent Miller). Pianist and Keyboard player Benjamin Croft (who has played with legends Randy Brecker, Frank Gambale, Chad Wackerman, Barry Finnerty and Mike Miller), Acclaimed violinist Benet Mclean, (Omar, Julian Joseph, Steve Williamson, Troy Miller) international violinist Jen Douglas and many more.

Stripped down acoustic piano versions of the songs on “Near Life Experience” have been interpreted and recorded by pianist Clifford Slapper (David Bowie, Boy George, Lisa Stansfield, Stereo MC's, Alabama 2, Suggs, Gary Kemp). Clifford Slapper is also author of "Bowie's Piano Man: The Life of Mike Garson").

About


Marsha Swanson

“A writer of intelligent and thought provoking songs that have the added bonus of being ridiculously catchy”

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Rock and Reel Magazine

Marsha Swanson is a singer/songwriter from London. Drawing inspiration from classic songwriters, mixed with orchestral soundscapes, she delivers her own brand of grown-up pop. Describing her music as “romantic realism”, Marsha’s songs are serious but also hopeful, an approach to art best summarized by the famous Thomas Hardy quote “If a way to the better there be, it exacts a full look at the worst”.

Her debut album “Watershed” secured national distribution in 2006 with Proper Music Distribution following a lengthy development deal with Universal Publishing. Early releases “My Life My Own”, and “Still Wrong” received widespread critical acclaim and a stunning response from regional and national BBC radio.

Gaining support from influential music critics and major arts media, Marsha was delighted when Storm Thorgerson agreed to do the artwork for second album, “Sentient Stardust”. Marsha had long admired his iconic album covers for Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin & Muse and was thrilled when her music inspired multiple designs that were later selected for his collection, “The Raging Storm”. The album was launched at Virgin’s flagship store at Piccadilly, 2008.

It featured production from ex Jocasta frontman and founder of Save Soho, Tim Arnold and Alex McGowan (Co-writer and producer for Martina Topley Bird’s Mercury Music Prize nominated album “Quixotic”, (who Marsha was also the lyric consultant on). The album went on to win Marsha the Best Folk Artist and Best Album awards at the Glasswerk New Music Awards in London 2007.

Marsha completed two BBC regional radio tours as well as performing exclusive acoustic sets for the likes of BBC Wales, Talksport and many more. Singles from the album all received daytime regional BBC and commercial radio airplay. The video release for single “How are you?” was chosen for playlists by “O Music TV” and “Propeller TV”. Marsha also performed it live on Channel M Breakfast show.

In this period, Marsha began an extended period of varied musical collaborations, experimenting with Steve Sidelnyk (programmer/drummer to Madonna), Richard Robson (programmer/remixer to Richard Ashcroft/Magic Numbers), and Canadian composer Ken Ramm (Euphoria). She co-wrote with Joe Cang (hit writer of Aswad’s “Shine”), BAFTA nominated producer and writer Tim Baxter, and provided guest backing vocals to Phil "Swill" Odgers from The Men They Couldn't Hang for his Swill and the Swagger Band debut.

Marsha combined her two passions of songwriting and working with children, when writing multiple songs for a children’s charity which supports deprived inner city children, called "Kids Company". Her work with them for over a decade included two performances with the children to King Charles (then Prince Charles). Another performance to Gordon Brown took place in 10 Downing Street and the song also featured in a Ruby Wax Documentary about the Charity.

After taking a break to become a mother, Marsha joined forces with Celebrity children's entertainer Amanda Frolich of Amanda’s Action Club. Amanda has been dubbed the Jamie Oliver of West London’s playgrounds. Marsha met Amanda when her daughter attended her classes which she loved. She was delighted to help out when she learned that Amanda was looking for new music for her franchise. Marsha wrote songs for Amanda’s new album for pre-school children, in collaboration with multi-million selling recording artist Alison Wheeler from “The Beautiful South”, a longtime supporter of Amanda’s work. The album features songs about growing up, healthy eating, & sharing. It featured the vocals and even the laughter of Marsha’s then 6 year old daughter. Amanda continues to use this music to host parties for her A-list following which has included the Beckhams, Amanda Holden, and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s children.

In 2015, Marsha began a new project after being inspired by the novels of bestselling and Orange Prize winning author Lionel Shriver. After reading “We Need to Talk about Kevin”, (which was later made into a motion picture), Marsha came across an earlier novel of Shriver’s which was available in America but had not yet been released in the U.K. It was about a fictitious band called “Checker and the Derailleurs”. Marsha was struck by a comment in the afterword where Lionel mentioned "As for the song lyrics, I had a blast writing them, and if anyone is ever inspired to set them to music they’re welcome to give it a try”. Marsha saw this as an open invitation and immediately started composing music to the lyrics in the novel with guitarist Seb Cooper. She was delighted when Lionel finally heard their interpretation and expressed that it was exactly as she heard it in her head when writing the novel. Lionel’s work certainly connected with Marsha artistically and this collaboration was unusual, if not unique.

The single, “You Think I’m So Great I’m Not” was released on the same date as the U.K. release of the novel to tie-in. It departed from Marsha’s usual style, following Lionel’s description of the musical sound and instrumentation of the band in the novel. She described an edgy youthful crew with eclectic influences rooted in rock and punk. The song reveals the protagonist’s own idea of himself which lies in stark contrast to the idolisation he receives from his peers. Lionel Shriver talks about the song as one of her desert island discs on BBC radio 6 show paperback writers.

In 2015, Marsha released single “An Island”, a haunting tale of isolation. The accompanying video for An Island marked a new collaboration with photographer and film maker Michael Clement. Michael has also taken photos of Marsha for her forthcoming album.

After a 7 year hiatus, Marsha returns to a much changed music scene with a whole new body of work. During the pandemic, Marsha wrote and recorded (online) a children’s album and resource for schools which is currently in development and is going to be published by Karnac Books. 2023 also saw the completion of her third 17 track studio album “Near Life Experience” , released on Jan 19th 2024. The album is the thought provoking culmination of lyrical and musical reflections that have emerged from major life and world events.

Amidst all the uncertainties and adversities, Marsha retained a dogged determination to make a record of integrity born from solid musicianship, life experience, and love. The journey began when finally getting to work with producer Iestyn Polson (best known for his work with David Gray, Patti Smith and David Bowie) on an E.P. at Konk studios, following a missed opportunity to work with him a decade earlier. When asked by an over-stretched Iestyn, “why should I work with you, I can work with anyone and I have limited time?” Marsha explained pragmatically that she knew what she wanted to say, why it might be relatable to others, and how she had written music that could communicate the core messages effectively. After much serious talk about the current state of the music industry, all the pitfalls and a million reasons why not to make a record, the deal was finally sealed with Marsha’s promise to make Iestyn the best studio sandwich ever! This starting point, in many ways, characterizes Marsha’s whole approach to recording music. She sees enjoying the process as being as important as the end result.

Marsha was introduced to Henry (King Thumb) Thomas (famous for his role as a Co-presenter and writer contributor of the BBC TV series Rockschool, and for playing for endless international artists, recording on countless hit records, TV and film soundtracks) at Ronnie Scotts. It was here that he was playing with revered pianist and Marsha’s long-term collaborator, Benjamin Croft. They hit it off immediately over their joint passion for using music as a therapeutic tool for young people. In recognizing a kindred spirit in each other, it wasn’t long before Henry got involved. First, it was as a string arranger and composer on the E.P. and then later as a producer when him and Marsha were given an opportunity by Dave Lynch at Echo Zoo studios, Eastbourne, to record by the sea. It was during this time that the E.P developed into an expanded 15 track album. Henry brought in a group of long-term musician friends, selected not only for their musical prowess, but for their like-minded temperament and commitment to any project that they believe in. A fire was lit, and the highly ambitious process, confirmed Marsha and Henry’s shared view that the end result of a recording cannot help but contain within it the sum of its relational parts.

The album as a multifaceted and combined conglomerate features a stellar line up of musical talent featuring some of the U.K.’s top musicians. Drummers Martyn Barker, from Shriekback (who has also co-written and played with Billy Bragg, Marianne Faithfull, Goldfrapp, Robert Plant, Alain Bashung, & Ray Davies), Drummer Keith Prior (David Gray, Savage Garden, Roger Taylor/Queen) , Guitarist Tony Qunta (Odyssey, Hazel O’Connor, Imagination, and Zigaboo Modeliste (drummer of The Meters), Bassist Graham Knight (Simple Kid, Orphan Colours, Trent Miller), Pianist and Keyboard player Benjamin Croft (who has played with legendary musicians Randy Brecker, Frank Gambale, Chad Wackerman, Barry Finnerty and Mike Miller), Acclaimed violinist Benet Mclean, (Omar, Julian Joseph, Steve Williamson, Troy Miller) international violinist Jen Douglas and many more. Assistant production and engineering was provided by Alex McGowan (Stewart Copeland, Tricky, Josh Homme, Mark Lanegan).

Stripped down acoustic piano interpretations of “Near Life Experience” tracks have been recorded by pianist extraordinaire, Clifford Slapper (David Bowie, Boy George, Lisa Stansfield, Stereo MC's, Alabama 2, Suggs, Gary Kemp) which will all be available to hear in Jan 2024. Marsha contacted Clifford during the pandemic after reading his book, "Bowie's Piano Man: The Life of Mike Garson"). It was only by coincidence that they found out during a phone conversation about family that they were in fact distant relatives via marriage! The serendipity was palpable.

The album cover for “Near Life Experience” is a visual masterpiece designed yet again by Storm Studios who are responsible for creating some of the greatest album covers of all time spanning 5 decades, including Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon and Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy. Flipping the well understood concept of a “Near Death Experience” and turning it on its head, Marsha considers what it would mean to nearly live. After much discussion with Storm Studios, hypothesizing about what impending life might look and feel like, their idea was to create something that visually exists more on the boundaries between real and artificial to reflect the title. The plan was to create a composite photo in black and white and then hand-colour it, like something that might have been created around the 1900s, not kitschy but more theatrical and arty. They thought that having an element of spirit from that era would also resonate with the dance the album does musically and lyrically between past and present, and between different generations. This includes a central piece about the relationship between turn of the century classical composer Gustav Mahler, (who Marsha is also a distant descendent of) and his wife Alma. The initial concept which became fondly referred to as “The Plant” was to create a long dress that starts off black and dead but grows towards the sun and becomes a fresh green shoot with a real Marsha at the end! It perfectly encapsulated the central theme of the album. Marsha shares, “As the only animals aware of our mortality, us humans have the unenviable task of navigating how to live our lives with the shadow of death always close by. The roots that we come from and return to are in death yet we continue to reach for the light”.

Singles from “Near Life Experience”, “In Parallel”, “Facing Life, “Not You” and “Happy Ever After” were accompanied by visually enthralling music videos that delve into the very depths of existence. "Facing Life" serves as a thematic prelude, paving the way for a narrative that traverses life's ebbs and flows. Bookended by instrumental tracks "Waltz for Life" and "In Touch," the album encapsulates the essence of life's journey, mirroring its highs and lows. The lead single, "Making Waves", was influenced by the work of the famous American Psychiatrist and bestselling author Irvin Yalom. He spoke of rippling, which is the idea that people can continue to have an impact long after they have died by their ideas and deeds rippling in much the same way as the ripples that are created by tossing a pebble into a pond. Swanson channels this energy into an existential song that aims to put us in touch with our mortality and meaning. She launched the album with a special show at London’s Bush Hall on release day.

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