Hey Marseilles

The band Hey Marseilles, a seven-piece band from Seattle, is my latest obsession. It was formed in 2006 by vocalist Nick Ward and guitarist Matt Bishop. Both were attending the University of Washington. They soon roped in Ward's roommate, pianist/accordionist Philip Kobernik. Their debut album, To Travels & Trunks revealed the band's very unique sound, one that seemed to channel almost the Decemberists and other chamber pop groups. The band showed at many different festivals that year. Starbucks featured them on their compilation, Sweethearts, Vol. 2 in 2010. Three years later, their album Lines We Trace appeared on the Thirty Tigers Label, and they played at Lollapalooza and other festivals, cinching the group as a popular acoustic band.

Okay, this band has two albums out; Lines We Trace and To Travel & Trunks. They both completely go with each other, which is very hard to do nowadays, considering the gap between the two was three years. They both have an indie-acoustic orchestral kind of vibe, with creative melody lines. But the absolute best part of this band is the lyrics. I am such a sucker for good lyrics. And these are so twistingly clever and played so well into the songs that it just makes you happy to hear it. In the song To Travel and Trunks, Ward sings, "If karma could dance, she'd tango forever/ and I'd sell my sleeves for some cloud-ridden weather/ can't you see heaven won't wait for us?/ salutations and and prayers are too laborious".  I don't know about you, but the absolute cleverness combined with the beautiful background melody and the guitar makes me want to cry. So pretty.

If you'd like to try a couple songs, I recommend "Tides", "To Travel and Trunks", and "Elegy." All three are beautiful songs that use piano and guitar but also incorporate more unusual instruments like the accordion or the saxophone.

Listen to some of their music: http://heymarseilles.com/media/
Try their website: http://heymarseilles.com