Marisa And The Moths – 'Live In Studio 3 Abbey Road Studios' Album Review

Sean Friswell
13 hours ago
3 min read

Tracklist:

Needy
Skin
Who Are You Waiting For?
Sad
Get It Off My Chest
Choke
Pedestal
Borderline

BONUS TRACKS | VINYL ONLY (UK TOUR 2024-2025}

Straight-laced
Wither Away

BONUS TRACKS | CD ONLY (UK TOUR 2024-2025}

Straight-laced
Gaslight
Slave
How Did You Get So Weak?
Wither Away

Marisa and the Moths are back with a live studio album. 'Live at Studio 3 Abbey Road Studios', the studio time for which was, I think, unusually, funded by a select group of their fans, one of whom, Martin Hopkins, passed away shortly after it was recorded. I think he would have been proud of this album and pleased he helped fund a part of it. The album is dedicated to his memory. The cost of releasing the album was also crowdfunded which, given how expensive it is to try to breakthrough these days, makes sense.

The band have been building a following for years now, very much at the alternative rock end of rock but with some classic rock flourishes that ground the whole thing, and all powered by Marisa’s powerhouse vocal style. Think Heart meets Paramore meets the Smashing Pumpkins all topped off with one of the best vocalists in rock and you can get a feel for what the band is all about.

The band have left in all of the little noises, the unexpected laughs, the sound engineers speaking etc to make sure you know this is live as they are so polished playing live and Marisa is such a fantastic live singer, that you might think this had been re-recorded again and again to make it sound as good as it can. If this is not an advert to go see them tour for lovers of live music I don’t know what is. Its very handy then that the band are about to embark on a short, four date tour, in support of the album, get your tickets now, you won’t regret it.

Opening track, 'Needy', is one the harder sounding tracks on the album in a lot of way but is also a firm crowd favourite already, you can understand when after you get to hear it, it’s a prefect opener to both the album and shows.

There is, however, not a weak song on this album, if you’re a fan you are going to love it. If you’re not an existing fan this is a great introduction to a proper live rock band with a tremendous vocalist, the band are tight, the songs anthemic at times, at other times quite down in the dirt, but it’s all well worth a listen.

Personal favourite is 'Who Are You Waiting For?' It’s got that soaring vocal with a plaintive touch to it, emotional in both a vulnerable and a strong way. You can feel the patience running out while the determination shines through, the rawness of the screams and the harshness of some of the vocals are balanced by the emotional intensity of the singing, but it is pushed hard as my favourite by 'Sad', a different kind of song, both of which are next to each other on the album.

The album is released on the 4th of July, as a download and limited edition vinyl and cd printed only once so get your order in now, get your tickets, and hopefully they expand the tour beyond four dates which is nowhere near enough!