Album: Adrian Marner – The College Years

“Adrian Marner is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose songs reflect elements of folk and indie rock. His influences include The Beatles, Elliott Smith, and Sufjan Stevens. He has previously lived in Houston and San Francisco and currently resides in Louisiana.

Zerowell Records is beyond excited to present, The College Years, the debut album from bedroom folk artist Adrian Marner. Raw, emotive, intimate, and timeless – this is an album that authentically takes you into the soul of an artist in his formative years with a level of honesty, vulnerability, and authenticity uncommon in today’s commercial recordings. Blending vocal layering, acoustic fingerpicking, and rhythmic guitars, Adrian’s songwriting hits you right in the heart with a voice that Austin Town Hall describes as “Magic.”

Illusions and Delusions, which appears on the The College Years, is a song about romantic interest distorting the perception of another person to the point where everything is a delusion. Atmospheric synthesizer and vocal textures create a warm, ambient sound.

Somehow I listened to some singles from this album and at first, I did not get into it as much. Then I listened to Illusions and Delusions and it got me hooked. I revisited the whole album and somehow it was working for me. I am really enjoying the retro, lo-fi folk sound, which is present in the whole album. It nicely gives the album special aesthetics and atmosphere that makes it distinctive from other folk artists. Somehow the rawness is making the songs easier to connect to. As described above, I can agree that is intimate and timeless. I gave this album a proper listen from the beginning to the end and I quite enjoyed it. Sometimes, music has to age for me in order to get myself to like it. Maybe it is connected to the fact that I am listening to such music that sometimes I am not into it at first. I am glad I revisited this album and now I am full of joy after listening to this honest, acoustic folk album.

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