Brooklyn, USA-based Marla Mase has been making music for over fifteen years, yet has only just hit my radar through the release of her ninth studio album, Infinite They Went.

By Graeme Smith

It’s perhaps the perfect introduction though, as Infinite They Went features eleven tracks that have been released across Marla’s expansive career produced and remastered by James Dellatacoma and Tomás Doncker.

Things That Scare Me kicks off the collection in a lively and expressive way. Marla’s observational song writing is instantly on display, turning her attention on herself and her flaws. Also on display is her unique and unconventional approach to composition. Blending genre with ease, it’s a track that keeps us guessing what will come next.

Across the album, Marla also makes observations about the world around her and the society we’ve collectively built, be it a lack of accountability in the dark and punchy All Fall Short, violence in A Gun or mob mentality in Truth Comes Down.

Satellite of Love gives us an appropriately anarchic cover of the Lou Reed classic. Half-Life is a wonderfully sultry and jazzy number about the complexities of romance. 8:30 is a soft, storytelling highlight. Always closes the album in a soaring number that’s full of a sense of release.

I’ve never heard lyrics like the ones Marla has penned. She is fiercely herself without compromise, which makes her music relatable as well as entertaining. Pair that with her maverick approach to genre and you get something beautifully unlike anything else out there.

Infinite They Went is out now via True Groove Records. You can give it a listen below.