New Music: Oliver Marson – Manipulator

While London based artist (and Empathy Test keysmith) Oliver Marson shows some of his influences openly – Scott Walker, Serge Gainsbourg, and David Bowie – there’s a lot more to his sound. Check out Manipulator (and it’s evocative video) and you’ll agree.

Manipulator (Single) by Oliver Marson

The Walker and Bowie (Berlin era) comparisons can be heard mainly in Marson’s voice, but also in the complex, baroque pop and 60’s qualities inherent in the melody. But the track skews that sound, Drab Majesty inspired guitars to the fore, and Gothic-era Paradise Lost electro/industrial nuances given a post-punk, yet somehow poppy sheen. Marson wants you to listen to his music, absorb the words and their meaning – something Manipulator achieves with ease.

Says Marson about the creation of Manipulator, “The lyrics were very much inspired by what was going on at the time. It was clear during the pandemic we were being totally manipulated whether that was by politicians, the media or the corporate classes.”

He adds, “Since the pandemic, western governments have spent an estimated 9000 billion (9 trillion) through quantitative easing, and it is estimated that it would cost only 39 billion to vaccinate the world twice over. The first line of the song and overarching message addresses this ”we’re sleepwalking with the loonies at the wheel’ – we’re basically heading into a crisis. We tried to get across this in the video through me playing a dodgy Wall Street banker.”

Discover more about Manipulator and Oliver Marson, plus two scheduled London gigs, on his Facebook page and Instagram account. Manipulator and more music from Marson can be streamed on Apple Music and Spotify.

Photo by Stephanie Zapolska