Hey Marseilles - Live at The Baeble Bounce House

Hey Marseilles are a band that have arrived on what is a rather glorious, new sound. On two previous albums, the Seattle six-piece embraced classical influences in a big way, taking cues from contemporaries like The Decemberists. But on their third, most recently released self-titled album, the band made bigger, bolder strides in the studio, creating a more polished piece of art that's taking these amicable, Pacific North Westerners to soaring new heights.

Not surprisingly, the place these songs are most effective is in the live setting...something we saw firsthand when the band dropped in on our Baeble Bounce House Party in Austin last spring. Put simply, this is an infectious set. Singer Matt Bishop's sauntering, vocal melodies and big choruses are sure to clang around in your brain for days. And as we mentioned above, the band's more precious, previous pursuits (say that three times fast) take on a bit more edge with the addition of a real rhythmic drive and guitar work that pivots perfectly between distorted pedal crunchers and a glossy haze.

Most interestingly though are the orchestrations, which used to serve as Hey Marseilles' calling card. The band haven't dialed these elements back, but where classical influences were once the bedrock to their songs, now piano, cello, and violins taste like the cherry on top, bringing the band's entire, exciting new sound together. If you're a fan of that certain brand of melodic and heartfelt indie-rock only the Pacific Northwest seems to be able to produce (think Death Cab, The Shins, The Lonely Forest), Hey Marseilles should be your favorite new band.

Hey Marseilles we're from Seattle and happy to be playing for you.
The clocks on the wall are fast
I'm aiming to be the last If only to see
How everyone leaves The time that we've started with has
mostly been useless We never did think to try not to blink
All in all we'll find The perfect OK lie
Leave what we know Find what we're after
Live while we're young And don't need the answers
Leave what we know Find what we're after
I'll lead the way into ever after All in all we'll find
The perfect OK lie I'll ask you to follow me
To move near the city To share our commute
And save for more room On weekends we'll stay inside
Listen to modern life Clean all our things
And temper our dreams All in all we'll find
The perfect OK lie Leave what we know
Find what we're after Live while we're young
And don't need the answers Leave what we know
Find what we're after I'll lead the way into ever after
All in all we'll find The perfect OK lie
When the black and white fades To an effortless grey
I will be beside you When the days turn to years
I will be here
Leave what we know Find what we're after
Live while we're young And don't need the answers
Leave what we know Find what we're after
I'll lead the way into ever after Leave what we know
Find what we're after Live while we're young
And don't need the answers Leave what we know
Find what we're after I'll lead the way into ever after
Leave what we know Find what we're after
Live while we're young And don't need the answers
Leave what we know Find what we're after
I'll lead the way into ever after
- Thank you.
How are you guys doing? Us too.
Silent summer licks in old town
Forgetting Sundays Trading moments of sound
Aimless wandering through the evergreens All the moments I lost while caught in
your words I tried to find all the patterns and lines
You left behind Those crooked signs
Words I tried not to write I left behind
Every autumn moves me backwards And my memories start to loop in reverse
All the fallen leaves Those slipping symmetries
Every waking hour Takes me back to your words
I tried to find all the patterns and lines You left behind
Those crooked signs Words I tried not to write
I left behind I've been going back, back to the old
place Couldn't figure out
I couldn't figure it out Am I going back, back to my old ways
Couldn't figure out I couldn't figure it out
I've been going back, back to the old
place Couldn't figure out
I couldn't figure it out Am I going back, back to my old ways
Couldn't figure out I couldn't figure it out
We said it was the last time
Even when I close my eyes You're the one I can't deny
And we move in the landslide Watch it all turn to dust
Block out the daylight With the stars out
Show me what you need Do you want it
To be honest I've got my eyes on you
I've got my eyes on you You were waiting on the pavement
The light from a photograph Silent on the other side
In my words and arrangement Can we use broken parts
To hold it all upright? With the stars out
Show me what you need Do you want it
To be honest I've got my eyes on you
I've got my eyes on you
I've got my eyes on you I think I'm falling through
To the other side Even though we try, try, try
I fell too hard for you I think I'm falling through
To the other side Even though we try, try, try
- We just released a record about a month ago and these are all songs from that.
Thank you for listening.
Undertow, swimming out too slow The rope line is a silent guide
That speaks reasons why you couldn't leave The safety of a quiet lie
The silence is easy When the guests are all gone
The orchestra singing The end of our song
All I need is another life All I need is another life
All I need is another life All I need is another life
Summer nights, spinning like a windmill
When we put the night on your windowsill Next page, ready for a new start
Bent corners make up the bookmarks The silence is easy
When the guests are all gone The orchestra singing
The end of our song All I need is another life
All I need is another life All I need is another life
All I need is another life
The silence is easy When the guests are all gone
The orchestra singing The end of our song
The end of our song The end of our song
The end of our song All I need is another life
Getting off at the old stop
The plan that I helped you drop got me off Meet the chill and the bitter wind
If the one that I left at home will let me in
I've been away, been away What good is love or trust
If you never get in trouble You keep me safe enough
It's so hard to recover
You got me tied to impress With the pain and the press of death come
a test You wanna love like we're all safe
It's been that way I got away
What good is love or trust If you never get in trouble
You keep me safe enough It's so hard to recover
What good is love or trust If you never get in trouble
You keep me safe enough It's so hard to recover
- Thank you so much.
You guys still doing okay? It's 2:00, it's 1:45.
Are any of you hungover? Only that guy in the back.
Sounds like our fanbase.
Thanks for making it out so early.
Considering your not hungoverness.
If it's not broken
Hope you never told them It's the wrong time if you try to question
my sign Beauty in a secret
Hell if you reveal it Part of you can feel it unwind
Better in the moment Than looking for the omens
It's a fatal mistake Never saw the damage
Thought that we could stand it But the operation scarred
I'm sorry for the pain That's all I could do to claim
My heart My heart, my heart, my heart, my heart, my
heart My heart
My heart, my heart, my heart, my heart, my heart
I'm too smart to be convenient I'm too sharp to let you care
Illuminating nothing but foreseeing The passion is the beat
And I'm gnawing at your feet Humbled by the patient part
The operation scarred I'm sorry for the pain, that's all I could
do to claim My heart
My heart, my heart, my heart, my heart, my heart
My heart My heart, my heart, my heart, my heart, my
heart We could be closer
But it's not over All the true things, all that you bring
I spoke it and I know it Can't control this
Wild emotion My heart
My heart, my heart, my heart, my heart, my heart
My heart My heart, my heart, my heart, my heart, my
heart My heart
My heart, my heart, my heart, my heart, my heart
My heart My heart, my heart, my heart, my heart, my heart
- Thank you so much.
We have a record that just came out about a month ago it's self titled we're called Hey Marseilles we're from Seattle.
Anybody else from the West Coast? It's a good place.
This one's for you.
Meet me on the west coast In the salt air
Breathe slow Go out to the unknown
We'll make it our own Meet me on the west coast
We'll make it our own She said
The new years' sky's a haze From the back rooms of champagne
That New York City night The first time your lips found mine
The moment everything had changed Everything had changed
Everything had changed Meet me on the west coast
In the salt air Breathe slow
Go out to the unknown We'll make it our own
Meet me on the west coast We'll make it our own
Concrete in red Through apartment window panes
We find a room to slip away Curtain holds out the light
With your hands folded in mine The moment everything had changed
Everything had changed Everything has changed
Meet me on the west coast In the salt air
Breathe slow Go out to the unknown
We'll make it our own Meet me on the west coast
You can run away Take a moment to see, a moment to be
All the things you need This love isn't over yet
I will run away To the mountains and rain, the sun in L.A.
Away for another day We can begin again
Meet me on the west coast Meet me on the west coast
Meet me on the west coast In the salt air
Breathe slow Go out to the unknown
We'll make it our own Meet me on the west coast
We'll make it our own Meet me on the west coast
We'll make it our own
- Thanks so much you guys, we'll see you soon.
Have a good South by.

As a musical breeding ground, Seattle is mistrustful of eager strivers. Still suffering from a grunge hangover, the city would rather embrace its underachievers than hitch its wagon to the obviously ambitious. So for the past eight years, Hey Marseilles has played by the rules, earned their indie cred the usual way: by touring relentlessly across the US and releasing a pair of albums beloved by fans around the world. But even as they succeeded at their modest goals, the members of Hey Marseillessinger Matt Bishop, guitarist Nick Ward, keyboardist Philip Kobernik, violist Sam Anderson, violinist Jacob Andersonfelt restless.

With their third album, Hey Marseilles shakes off the past and takes a big, bold step. In all its panoramic grandeur, Hey Marseilles leans into a new, bright future. In its polished production, its narrative arc, its departure from the band's previous MO, the album is a leap forward. And it finds the humble quintet ready for the risk.

Two years ago, Hey Marseilles met Anthony Kilhoffer, an A-list, LA-based producer and engineer who's won Grammys for his work with Kanye West and John Legend. Kilhoffer typically trafficks in the realm of Top-40 pop and hip-hop, among platinum-status megastars like Jay Z and R. Kelly and Rick Ross. After they were introduced by mutual friends, Kilhoffer saw something in Hey Marseilles that he couldn't resist: the radical adventure of veering down an uncharted road. He jumped at the chance to work with the band. For their part, Hey Marseilles recognized an unprecedented opportunity to push their usual creative in new directions. Up for the challenge, they went all-in.

In early 2014, the group made a couple trips to LA, prewriting with Kilhoffer and a small cadre of songwriters, absorbing their almost scientific advice on how to hone the more accessible, "pop" elements of their sound. Later that year, Kilhoffer spent a couple weeks in Seattle, taking the helm at the mixing board at Avast and London Bridge Studios while the band completed recording. They found that the 41-year-old producer washow to put this delicately?eccentric in his approach. (Ask them about it; they have a zillion stories.) In his focus on immediacy and accessibility, they also believed Kilhoffer was right. His MO, as paraphrased by the band: Find the song's catchiest part. Get there faster. Do it more.

What you hear on Hey Marseilles is a band has the guts to change course deep into their career, backed by the self-awareness to understand the exact place they were meant to go. It's self-titled because, at three albums in, the band announcing itself the world as if for the first time. All of the members have individual songwriting credits herea first. The entire album, music and lyrics, is about adventurousness, finding faith in a new path.

The spirit is there from the start: Album opener "Eyes On You" contains the most explosive climax in Hey Marseilles history, and at under three minutes long, it's the shortest song they've ever recorded. Credit Kilhoffer's skills as producer and head coach: This is the kind of thrilling hit song he's known for. "West Coast" follows, inspired by endless hours on the road and the new beginnings found there, "the moment everything had changed" as Bishop sings, his tenor buoyed by Kobernik's elegant piano. "My Heart" percolates with electro-pop enthusiasm, ready to take a spot next to Kilhoffer's other Top-40 anthems. Reggie Watts, former Seattleite and current music director on Late Night with James Corden, lends uplifting vocals to the yearning, catchy "Perfect OK." On "Trouble," Bishop croons one of the album's most memorable lyrics, penned by Sam Anderson: "What good is love or trust/If you never get in trouble?" Thematically, "Crooked Lines" picks up where the band's previous album, Lines We Trace, left off. It's the album's only moment of hindsight, countered a few songs later with the band's simmering, scintillating cover of David Bowie's "Heroes." The album closes with "Horizon," its most introspective number.

"I'm out on the horizon/with the darkness below," Bishop sings, Anderson's cello and Kobernik's keys resonating like a dirge. "I'm out on the horizon/But it seems like I'm close."

Closer than close. Hey Marseilles has arrived.