Oliver Marson

oday, London-based art-pop artist Oliver Marson has shared 'Flowers Of Evil', a song about late capitalism and going through the motions. The single is the final cut to be shared ahead of his debut album, Why Did I Choose This?, which is due out on October 6th. 

Praised by Anthony Fantano (The Needle Drop) as a "Funky Boy", Oliver Marson's music exists in the same vein as art rock bands like Sparks and Pulp as well as more contemporary artists like Alex Cameron, Kirin J Callinan and Connan Mockasin. His signature croon, energetic shows and satirical lyrics commenting on the grisly truths of 2020s Britain have earned him a cult following in the UK.

Of his new single, Marson says: 

“I wrote this one during lockdown. I was listening to a lot of Weyes Blood. It’s a song that comes from the heart about getting older and running out of time. It’s about wanting a change, but being stuck in the same loop. About desiring an escape, but coming back to the same centre. And even now, we’ve been able to escape things aren’t much different. For the video, I went away with a friend to Lanzarote and we made a DIY short film, inspired by The Passenger (Antonioni), Revolver and Paris Texas. I wanted to get across that feeling of being lost in the video, so going to the desert made sense. In the video, I fake my own death in the hope of leaving my past behind. It’s about trying to escape your life. But, ultimately failing”

Marson began writing music at the age of 23 following a serious illness that had left him hospitalised. “One of the things that I held onto was that when I got out of hospital I was going to make a lot of music. I think I felt that if I died then what a waste my life would have been. If anything, for me this period of writing wasn’t about receiving accolades, it was about the journey and the process of becoming something or someone else” he explains.

Why Did I Choose This? is a collection of quirky and eclectic songs that take unexpected turns while managing to remain accessible and catchy. Marson’s talent for combining over-the-top, extravagant 80s sounds with his timeless crooning vocal creates a cognitive dissonance that will resonate with those who feel out of place in today's world.

Why Did I Choose This? is, as Marson puts it, ‘ludicrous music for ludicrous times’, covering themes of sex, death, love, life in late-capitalism and the end of the world. “I think the album takes you on a journey of escapism, but comes back to the fact we are sort of stuck in the reality we are in. It is both a dream and a nightmare,” explains Marson. “It is about the confusion in our lives, the joy, the terror of it all. It is tasteless, glamorous, sexy, confusing, vulgar, fun and, well, it’s pop music!”