Charm is one of the stranger forms of social currency, because its value depends on everybody agreeing, for a moment, to overlook the arithmetic. The charmer gets the favour, the second chance; somebody else absorbs the cost. On It Always Comes to Me, the final advance single from Black Marble’s Life in Small Spaces, Chris Stewart studies that transaction with the detached curiosity of someone watching a confidence game unfold across a crowded room.
“It Always Comes to Me is about a cool, calm, collected person who seems to always be able to get away with things other people can’t, either by charm or deceit,” says Stewart. “Like a modern version of The Kinks’ Dedicated Follower of Fashion, the song doesn’t explicitly advocate for or condemn this kind of behaviour, but takes a birds eye view of it as the protagonist moves through the world. Ultimately, it leaves it up to the listener to judge for themselves. The subject of the song seems to be having fun but can it last? And how much does our judgement really matter either way?”
Stewart’s subject has mistaken self-preservation for a philosophy, treating other people as scenery in a private campaign of convenience…yet each successful escape removes another beam from the structure holding a person among others. Isolation is built one victory at a time.
Bass and guitar carry more weight here than Black Marble’s older walls of synthesizers, giving the song the warmth of musicians occupying shared space. Stewart has described the album’s new guitar language as an attempt to “create this chime-y hypnotic quality. Like a radio dial that is between two stations.” The image suits a record concerned with people caught between versions of themselves, transmitting confidence while a less flattering signal bleeds through.
Claes Nordwall’s video places Stewart in New York, drifting through subways, bridges, basketball courts, and pool halls with an ease that mirrors the song’s central figure. “I was drawn to the idea of a character moving through the modern world on his own timeline,” says Nordwall. “While everything around him races forward, he remains quietly rooted in who he is. I was inspired by Chris’s ideas behind the album which made me think of the dry stoicism of Aki Kaurismäki’s films. I wanted to make something that celebrates resilience, character and the beauty of refusing to chase the next thing.”
The result is a tender snapshot of modern day city life in the Big Apple, which, ironically, feels timeless, as if filmed thirty years ago. The irony remains unresolved. A person moving at his own pace may be independent, deluded, enviable, or alone. Stewart leaves the verdict open, while the song quietly asks what remains when getting away with everything finally means having nobody left to fool.
Watch the video for It Always Comes to Me below:
Life in Small Spaces is out August 21st on Sacred Bones. Pre-order here.
Black Marble Tour Dates:
- Saturday, August 22 — Santa Ana, CA — Constellation Room at the Observatory
- Sunday, August 23 — Los Angeles, CA — 1720
- Tuesday, August 25 — San Francisco, CA — Rickshaw Stop
- Wednesday, August 26 — Sacramento, CA — Harlow’s
- Friday, August 28 — Seattle, WA — The Crocodile
- Saturday, August 29 — Portland, OR — Wonder Ballroom
- Sunday, August 30 — Boise, ID — Shrine Social Club
- Monday, August 31 — Salt Lake City, UT — Urban Lounge
- Tuesday, September 1 — Denver, CO — The Federal Theatre
- Thursday, September 3 — Omaha, NE — Slowdown
- Friday, September 4 — Minneapolis, MN — Fine Line
- Saturday, September 5 — Chicago, IL — Thalia Hall
- Sunday, September 6 — Detroit, MI — El Club
- Monday, September 7 — Toronto, ON — Lee’s Palace
- Tuesday, September 8 — Montreal, QC — La Sala Rosa
- Thursday, September 10 — New York City, NY — Webster Hall
- Friday, September 11 — Philadelphia, PA — Union Transfer
- Saturday, September 12 — Baltimore, MD — Ottobar
- Monday, September 14 — Raleigh, NC — Kings
- Tuesday, September 15 — Atlanta, GA — The Earl
- Thursday, September 17 — Houston, TX — White Oak Music Hall Upstairs
- Friday, September 18 — Dallas, TX — Club Dada
- Saturday, September 19 — Austin, TX — 29th Street Ballroom
* w/ The Serfs. # w/ Public Circuit. (and Jimmy Cicero for select shows)
Featured Photo by Ashley Leahy
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