‘Tell It Like It Is’ by Marching Church (Album)

Marching Church: now consists of a multitude of full time members and collaborators

A huge band with even bigger ambitions, the second album from this Danish outfit is their best and most thought-provoking

Marching Church is the one time solo project of Elias Bender Rønnenfelt. The Copenhagen outfit now consists of a multitude of full time members and collaborators. Together they create unified and complicated song arrangements in a way that’s not dissimilar to the likes of Arcade Fire – an obvious, yet worthy comparison. Tell It Like It Is is the band’s second album and continues an exploration of the avant-garde and calculated songwriting.

The debut single Heart Of Life is a prime example of the band’s ability to create augmented compositions. The song’s percussion takes the urgency of Iggy Pop’s Lust For Life and pairs it with the bassline from Close To Me by The Cure, before cutting it short and smattering it with the cool rhythm of Guns Of Brixton. Rønnenfelt has a unique ability to absorb everything that he sees going on in the world, radiating his thoughts and opinions in the form of poetic lyrics. He sings “my delusions vaguely resemble paradise.”

In Lion’s Den the singer invites you to “come on it.” Do it! It would be easy to disregard this album on first listen, and it may take a while to truly appreciate what the band are attempting to do with the record, but it is well worth persevering. There is a strong sense that the band collect ideas and, bit by bit, form these ostentatious sound collages, which are every bit impressive.

Of the world, Rønnenfelt states: “We have here one world united under the sparks of one enormous disco ball hanging over us like the moon. In one fleeting moment in the light of its mirrored surface we see human endurance, in the next we see doom.” Listen to Tell It Like It Is and join Marching Church under the disco ball.

Verdict: As close to pretentious as one can get without being so

Dave Chrzanowski

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