THE MARSH FAMILY
In The Bleak
Faversham, United Kingdom
The festivities this year are a struggle for many. It's clear that the holiday time is also a time of strife. The Marsh Family have paid their dues and show boatloads of empathy and understanding in their latest single, ‘In The Bleak’. Though set to a classic Christmas-sounding instrumental featuring upbeat horns, drums and bells. The vocals show a different angle, one that feels the hardships, the immense weight of the year just passed and the year to come. The song speaks to the core of Yule, it's about remembrance, thanks, and giving. The vocals swell in beautiful harmonies, singing of food banks and stretching the budget. Gone are the times of abundance, now is the time of togetherness.
The song starts out like a slow winter ballad. Piano patters down snow-strewn paths, oohs in the back blow snowflakes in the air. The melody rises and falls and settles in a pleasing finish, calling on the vocals. The first phrase hits and it hits hard. The lyrics touch on the cost of living, being unable to heat your home as it grows colder and damper as the season goes on. The song builds, the chorus is alive with vocals and Christmas classics, harmonising all the way to the new year. A pleasing song with a true and relatable message. Brilliantly done, poetic and needed. The Marsh Family have captured the feelings of this Christmas in ‘In The Bleak’, lest we forget how hard times can be and how important those around us, truly are.