Marlon Williams

My Boy, the third solo record from New Zealand singer/songwriter Marlon Williams, announces an artist emerging anew. Gone is the solemn, country-indebted crooner with the velvet voice – in his place comes a playful, shapeshifting creature. Following the release of his second album, 2018’s Make Way For Love, Williams’ toured the world, playing major festivals and collaborating with Lorde, Yo-Yo Ma and Florence Welch. He also forged a fledgling acting career with roles in films The True History of the Kelly Gang, A Star Is Born and Netflix series Sweet Tooth. My Boy parlays this flush of worldly experience into a vivid record as spirited and kinetic as the unfolding life of its performer. My Boy finds Williams’ leading a new band through a set of genre-hopping tunes, exploring lyrical themes of self-identity, tribalism, and ruminations on the role of masculinity and mateship. From the cheery sway of My Boy and chugging ‘80s noir sheen of Thinking Of Nina, to the charging synth of River Rival, and the sultry pop jam Don’t Go Back, all this sonic and emotional whiplash is intentional, and ultimately My Boy sees Williams having fun, even while interrogating the behaviours of himself and those around him.