Recommended Tracks: “A Normal Life,” “Ancient History,” and “Turn and Run”
Artists You May Like: Jacob Collier, All Time Low, The Maine, Hedley
Vancouver-based Marianas Trench have released their most exhilarating and imaginative album yet, Haven, bringing emotionally stimulating storytelling to life through sound. Singer, songwriter and producer Josh Ramsay takes his artistic expression to new heights with the help of bandmates Matt Webb (guitar), Mike Ayley (bass), and Ian Casselman (drums) through epic belted notes, unimaginable vocal performances, clever storytelling, and revolutionary production choices. The album also showcases the amazing talents of members of the Vancouver Film Orchestra conducted by Hal Beckett.
Inspired by Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey” and largely autobiographical of lead singer Josh Ramsay’s story, Haven is Marianas Trench’s most narrative album to date as they rely on fairytale tropes across 13 songs to carry a series of events through a protagonist’s adventure. Through conflict, love, doubt, fear, bravery and self-discovery, both conveyed lyrically and sonically, Marianas Trench deliver one of the most inventive albums of the year.
The album opens on a grand overture, “A Normal Life,” a six-minute instrumental explosion fusing futuristic synths found in what can only be described as traveling lightyears through space in a sci-fi film with retrospective string arrangements. The epic layering of instruments and vocals situate the listener in the driver seat as they embark on the journey that is Haven. The song was originally released as a single in April, introducing a new era for Marianas Trench. This introduction is quite literally emphasized through lyrics like, “could leave tonight and run/And make a bitter fool of everyone.” The setting is introduced as the protagonist is ready to set off as not fitting in with the mundane lifestyle is taking a toll on his mental health: “Idle hands that long to spill/The dangers of standing still/…Someday, somewhere I’ll belong there/…Save me from this ordinary life.”
Listeners are thrust into the world of Haven as they are reintroduced to “Lightning and Thunder,” and “I’m Not Getting Better,” both released as previous singles, the former receiving a striking one million streams on Spotify. Ramsay leans into familiar sounds on either track, where “Lightning and Thunder,” relies on synthesizer melodies similar to that of Taylor Swift’s Midnights paired with baritone chorus harmonies and being contrasted with falsetto in “I’m Not Getting Better”. The two songs mirror each other as the protagonist questions his confidence in jumping into a new adventure. In the former, Ramsay kickstarts with high energy, singing, “we’ll never, ever be the same, fate is calling/… This is only just beginning,” while in the latter shows his doubts keeping him from continuing on, saying, “stay here, it’s fine/Best laid plans topple, sounds right/But I could still be getting better.”
In the following tracks, the band leans into a variety of story tropes, all of which they bring to life through their imaginative world-building in their arrangements. The band employs the use of violin to create a dramatic shift, capturing the tug-of-war between the protagonist and a new obstacle or adversary in “Down to You”: “All this time I’ve been wasting/As days go by, just can’t replace you/And everything all comes down to you.” In a Shakespearean cry out for love, “Now or Never,” plays on the fairytale-esque immediate life-or-death declaration of devotion: “Don’t know if you hear me now/Almost took everything I have/I see it clearly now/Being with you is who I am/… This is a dream worth fighting for/It’s now or never.” This hyperbolic romance is further emphasized with a muted ticking clock and closing off with an extravagant symphony leading into a stripped intro into daring “Into The Storm.”
While the remaining songs still tackle varying literary structures, still leaning into Campbell’s stories, many are still unique in their own rights. Carrying a similar theme of utilizing extraordinary layering and what sounds like the scoring of monumental action sequences, violins and cellos battle against pop punk electric guitars and heavy drums in “Stand and Fight,” “Turn and Run,” and “Worlds Collide” all of which stand out as the climax to the sonic story. The album also continues to explore their pop, upbeat songs in saxophone-heavy “Ancient History,” and modern Michael Jackson-reminiscent “Remember Me By.”
The album concludes with the title track, an eight-minute final battle towards a resolution. “Haven” opens in a trepidatious whisper as the protagonist begins to see the end of his journey: “One final speech I wrote in blood/Unto the breach before the flood/Is that safe haven in my sights.” The song continues to build as instruments are layered on one another, keeping a steady beat before erupting into a “final denial/To resurrection.” The ticking clock returns as Ramsay alludes back to a variety of instrumental and vocal inflections used throughout the album. Next, with a rasp-intense belting, the protagonist meets his final match: “One final speech I wrote in blood/Unto the breach before the flood/Is that safe haven in my sights/…It’s only you and me now/No one’s getting out alive.” The track finally reaches full circle in the epiphany the protagonist longed for in the 52-minute run in the last few lines: “Cause in the end now who’s to say what makes a normal/Extraordinary normal/I know a place where I belong/In my extraordinary life.”
Marianas Trench continue to exceed expectations in their newest theatrical narrative album Haven with extravagant world-building through sound and lyrics with plenty of stand-out songs throughout. The band is eager to bring the album to life this fall with The Force of Nature Tour across the United States and Canada.
Ways to listen: Spotify // Apple Music // YouTube
Follow MARIANAS TRENCH: Website // Facebook // Twitter/X // Instagram // TikTok
