Etoile Marley, a multitalented London-based songwriter and artist, has returned with her latest single ‘LockItDown’ and she has not disappointed!
Etoile describes her music as “dark Pop meets bluesy Rock” and when you listen to her sing, you cannot deny her unique tone and lower register that completely draws you in. It is no wonder, then, that her voice is often likened to that of the beautiful Sade. Etoile takes musical inspiration from artists such as Dusty Springfield, Jeff Buckley, M.I.A and Portishead and is enamoured with pop culture, surrealism and Spoken Word/Rap. ‘LockItDown’ is certainly an affirmation of all of these legends so you can tell she had fun recording this one!
The track immediately carries a funky groove led in by a simple but sweet piano lick which ends up characterising its chilled and laid back vibe throughout. The spoken word/Rap influences in her vocals are uncanny, especially with the distortion layered over the top. She delivers every line in a way that just oozes confidence and cool. The way she combines this with her Jazz influences, which you can hear in the sassy trumpet interjections, add that extra energy that makes the track simply addictive, so much so that I guarantee you are bound to be playing this song on repeat for days.
Etoile is all about being bold with this track, throwing all caution to the wind and having one hell of a time!
When talking about the making of the track, Etoile comments:
“At the start of UK Lockdown, I knew I wanted to write about it in some way. My initial feeling was that of frustration and a bit of doom and gloom! So my first take on the title track was something more of a Rocky HipHop track (I was thinking M.I.A vibes with big industrial sounds). Which I still think sounds wicked but when I decided to collaborate with Academic on the whole EP project things shifted in a new direction! We started by having a chat about the project and then he sent me some demos. When I heard this jazzy little riff, I knew instantly "This is it"! From there the song evolved as I wrote the rap for it and we added horns to the track, it morphed into this slick Jazzy HipHop tune that is full of good vibes. It kinda changes the whole feeling of "Lockdown" into a fun party! To be honest, it's my favourite track I've (co)written so far and I'm pumped for the live acoustic version I'll be performing on the 1st Oct with Porteous.”
Photos by Chantal Vaccarini
And I think I’ll have to agree — it just might be my favourite track so far as well! I couldn’t be more excited to hear the brand new EP coming out this Friday 27th November, so keep your eyes peeled because you are in for an absolute treat.
Follow Etoile Marley here: https://www.instagram.com/etoilemarley/
Stream her latest single ‘LockItDown’ on all streaming platforms here: https://songwhip.com/etoilemarley/lockitdown