‘Haze’ by Marble Empire represents the rejuvenation of a genre that has long been oversaturated. Whilst you can clearly hear the DNA of their influences ranging from Clean Bandit, Daft Punk, Jungle, Nao and others it is wonderfully apparent how these elements remain as conduits for a fresh and unique sound and don’t appear cliché or generic.
The track is multi-layered in its varied use of studio techniques, panning and ethereal sounds, many of which go unnoticed until repeated listens. In the case of ‘Haze‘, repetition of structural ideas is no issue as the song develops its ideas, taking you on a journey floating through wide-ranging parts and instrumentation, with a range of clever dynamical changes and mesh of styles that retain interest throughout the whole song.
There are small touches that put icing on the cake, like the horns in the chorus and the funky lead guitar break in the middle of the song or the haunting keyboard effects during the climax.
If there are any lessons that can be learned from listening to ‘Haze’ by Marble Empire, it’s that you can produce music with integrity in 2017 that is well textured, diverse and still call it a Pop song.
