Atlanta band Jaguar Glass describes itself as “Polychromatic modern-day ennui”. While you go and look that up, I’ll use their other, slightly easier descriptor: alternative / psych rock band.
‘Marionette’ is the band’s 4th single, and depicts the story of a girl who is incapable of touching the ground – held up against her will with strings. Even though she seems levitated and heightened, she experiences an endless fear of never being able to come down.
The intro has an evocative drum sound that took me right back to the 80s. I loved the first interplay of the guitars – that descending melody is lovely and melancholic. It’s also nice to hear a bass line so clearly – Josiah Soren’s bass throbs and growls, adding a wide warmth to the track.
Like a shaved ghost, the vocal is smooth and haunting – oozing with ethereal sadness, Sophia Trautman’s tone is wonderfully eerie, with lots of pretty top lines to explore.
The arrangement is deceptive – seemingly quite simple, the unhurried tempo lets the song breathe, and it feels as though every new bar is a new beginning. There are repeating elements, but the song just calmly rolls along, almost breathing in its fluid way – it feels more like an evolving journey than a rigidly traditional track. Things are layered so well, and nothing is superfluous.
Melodies drift past, each building on the last. Bass, guitars, vocals – they glide and sway like silk in the breeze.
Full of elegant musical invention, ‘Marionette’ is beautifully ambitious, but with a somber edge. As the Marionette tries to find the culprit of her anguish, she comes to the realization that she herself is the reason for her floating state.
Jaguar Glass tried the song in many styles, but only this dark, ominous direction felt like it encapsulated the overarching feeling of dread in the story.
It was the right choice, as ‘Marionette’ really does pull all the right strings.
Written by Grubby
