I'm Scottish, from Glasgow, and regard Michael Marra as nothing short of a genius.


What he means to me is a breath of the surreal dressed in everyday clothes, or do I mean something deeply sensible, ornately adorned in outlandish costume? Both, but not necessarily at the same time.

He's often compared to Randy Newman, and that's close, though that does not really describe him. Like Newman, Marra can be dry and witty, but he rarely exhibits quite the same bleakness or cynicism that we hear in Newman's "God's Song" for example. Marra is usually lighter in tone, not so harsh, gentler with his subjects.

He excels in not tackling his subject matter head-on, coming in slyly and at an unexpected angle, so we get Frida Kahlo, denied access to Heaven because St Peter's at the gym, sent down to pass some time at the Taybridge Bar in Dundee. He creates a love song in which he promises to be ".. eight majorettes playing trumpets and scowling,
sixteen old clergymen barking and howling..".

Although his songs are often set in or drawn from Scotland, and demonstrate a powerful sense of place, the outside world is frequently invited, or even dragged in. King Kong comes to Glasgow, Bob Dylan comes to Edinburgh, General Ulysses S. Grant visits Dundee.

His vocal delivery is... characterful, in the same way that Ronnie Drew was and Tom Waits is. There's no way you could mistake Michael Marra's voice for anyone else.

He's unique.


Regards


Steven