Name: David Lance Callahan / Marlody
Start: 2025-04-16T19:30:00+01:00
Location: What's Cookin'

$David Lance Callahan \/ Marlody$

Former frontman of C86’s sharpest social critics The Wolfhounds, and mainman of the pioneering Moonshake, (surely soon to be systematically re-evaluated), today Callahan essays a distinct form of English Primitivism, manifesting himself as a post-punk Blind Joe Death, a John Fahey who rides the rails of Transport for London, with looped lone guitar in hand, in search of the dark heart of Brexit Britain.
Since leaving behind The Wolfhounds, post-rock innovators Moonshake, collaborating with Stereolab, PJ Harvey, and the revived Swell Maps C21, David Lance Callahan now forges a solo path. Releasing two albums, English Primitive I and English Primitive II, of mutant folk/blues/African/post-punk on Tiny Global Productions, which have been acclaimed by audiences and critics. Latest album, ‘Down to the Marshes’, continues his invention of a personal folklore that fully applies to the modern world. Recorded in Valencia, and mixed in London, the songs are imbued with the scenes and lives of historic and contemporary London, making magical realism out of cold, hard reality.
"A series of sonic snapshots, Callahan sketches the now with a series of compelling postcards from England in a song cycle that combines acoustic workouts, arcane folk, desert blues and lysergic acoustic pop in a melodic and enticing whole. This is music that goes beyond the underground and these songs are the soundtrack to the now, national treasure stuff that needs to be heard" LOUDER THAN WAR
Marlody is a singer-songwriter and pianist whose work blends haunting melodies with deeply personal and introspective lyrics. Drawing from influences like Kate Bush and Fleetwood Mac, her music is characterized by rich harmonies, intricate piano arrangements, and an ethereal vocal style that conveys both vulnerability and strength.
Her debut album, 'I’m Not Sure at All', received widespread acclaim, blending haunting harmonies, striking melodies, and deeply personal lyrics. Dominated by her extraordinary keyboard playing, the songs shift between intimate and unsettling, with bursts of percussion, deep bass, and shimmering digital bells. A second album is on the way, set for release later this year on Skep Wax.
"Reassuringly hook-laden – an unlikely mixture but heady enough to work" MOJO

'Down To The Marshes' is a masterpiece of writing and performance from one of Britain's foremost musicians. The album saw widespread recognition not only for itself, but from the realisation that this three-album arc, possibly misunderstood at its start, is a major work from a major artist.
"A series of sonic snapshots, Callahan sketches the now with a series of compelling postcards from England in a song cycle that combines acoustic workouts, arcane folk, desert blues and lysergic acoustic pop in a melodic and enticing whole. This is music that goes beyond the underground and these songs are the soundtrack to the now, national treasure stuff that needs to be heard" LOUDER THAN WAR
"A multi-layered rumination...the past echoes through the present...Tuareg-style blues, raga-esque extemporisation and English folk-informed balladry are seamlessly woven together" MOJO