Marvin Powell - Dust of the Day

  by Nicky Crewe

published: 11 / 11 / 2019

Label: Skeleton Key
Format: CD

intro

New album from Marvin Powell is a beautifully performed introduction to this Liverpool musician’s thought-provoking songs

I have a favourite venue in Sheffield where I live. It’s called Cafe #9 and it’s the coffee house performance space you have always dreamt of. It’s intimate and cosy, with all the atmosphere of a living room concert, but with good acoustics and a decent sound system. Seeing artists perform there is often a magical experience, and when I went to see Marvin Powell perform an evening of music to launch his new album 'Dust of the Day' I was enchanted. It was his first visit to the Cafe and I know he fell for it too. He’s a musician who has been playing and writing since his mid-teens, probably half his life. Hailing from Liverpool, he is now based on the Wirral and is part of a musical community which gives him the chance to play solo and in bands. There’s a mix of solo and collaborative tracks on this album, but it really brings his songwriting and singing to the fore. It’s folky and soulful, it’s ethereal and delicate, but with an underlying strength, not least in his ability to tell a story and turn a phrase to stop you in your tracks and make you listen. There’s a vulnerability in his voice and a poetry in his lyrics that reaches out and draws you in to the heart of his music. He is a modern day troubadour. Favourite tracks as I write are the title track 'Dust Of The Day', the poetic 'Opulent Heart' and 'Move Through Me', and the upbeat 'Wind Before the Train'. His talent as a storyteller can be heard on 'Above the Portuguese Cafe'. Sometimes a new artist can be both fresh and familiar at the same time, which seems like a contradiction. It’s not that they sound just like someone else you know. It’s more to do with how they assimilate their own musical influences and personal experiences to produce music that resonates with the listener on first hearing. It’s a special gift and Marvin Powell has it.

Track Listing:-