New Zealand musician Marlon Williams returns with “My Boy,” his first new solo music since 2018’s Make Way For Love, and the announcement of a fall North American and European tour, on sale this Friday, May 6th at 10am local time. On the breezy “My Boy,” Williams’ “rare and entrancing” (NPR Music) vocals are on full display atop a loping sway of Polynesian and bluegrass guitars. He’s backed by a new cast of musicians: co-producer Tom Healy on electric guitars, LA-based drummer Paul Taylor (Feist), bassist Cass Basil (Ladyhawke, Tiny Ruins), Mark Perkins on vocals and additional production, and Elroy Finn on additional percussion.
Williams elaborates: “‘My Boy’ is a pop song with a Māori folk strum. The urge to turn every song on the planet into a Māori strummer descended on me like a fever sometime during the long and winding tour cycle of Make Way for Love. So writing it into my artistic life became the only way to get the fever to lift.
“I turned up at Mark ‘Merk’ Perkins studio early in 2019 with ‘My Boy’ and a small handful of other tunes. Some simple songs will try to tempt and lure you into over-complication; this one showed no such insecurities. For the first time in my writing life, it didn’t even demand lyrics in the chorus. It laid itself out, buoyed by its own sailing rhythm and lightness of phrase: Mark and I fleshed out the demo with a simple drumbeat and a whimsical mellotron descant and dinner was largely on the table. Going into Roundhead with Tom and the band, we kept that simplicity, adding only some extra percussion from Elroy Finn and a folk electric guitar solo from Tom.”
Shot in the height of New Zealand’s summer in Williams’ front yard and the Lyttelton Trinity Hall, the accompanying video was directed by Martin Sagadin and Williams and features choreography courtesy of Robyn Jordaan.
Watch Marlon Williams’ Video for “My Boy”
Following the release of his second album, Make Way For Love, which won Album of the Year at the New Zealand Music Awards and debuted at #1 on the New Zealand RIANZ Top 40 charts and #8 on the ARIA Australian charts, Williams became an in-demand collaborator. He sang on stage with Lorde and Florence Welch, recorded duets with Courtney Barnett, Paul Kelly, Yo-Yo Ma, an album with Kacy and Clayton, as well as composed his first film score for 2021’s Juniper. He also shifted much attention towards acting, landing major roles in films The True History of the Kelly Gang, Lone Wolf, The Beautiful Lie, current Netflix series Sweet Tooth, and a cameo in the film, A Star Is Born.
Marlon Williams Tour Dates
Wed. Sep. 14 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
Thu. Sep. 15 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Made
Fri. Sep. 16 – Washington, DC @ The Miracle Theater
Sat. Sep. 17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Mon. Sep. 19 – Toronto, ON @ The Great Hall
Wed. Sep. 21 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
Thu. Sep. 22 – Minneapolis, MN @ Turf club
Sat. Sep. 24 – Denver, CO @ Lost Lake
Tue. Sep. 27 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
Wed. Sep. 28 – Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theater
Thu. Sep. 29 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
Mon. Oct. 3 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Troubadour
Wed. Oct. 19 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
Fri. Oct. 21 – Glasgow, IE @ King Tuts
Sat. Oct. 22- Leeds, UK @ Brudenell
Sun. Oct. 23 – Manchester, UK @ YES
Tue. Oct. 25 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
Wed. Oct. 26 – London, UK @ Koko
Sat. Oct. 29 – Paris, FR @ La Maropquinerie
Sun. Oct. 30 – Zurich, CH @ BogenF
Wed. Nov. 2 – Munich, DE @ Ampere
Thu. Nov. 3 – Berlin, DE @ Hole44
Sat. Nov. 5 – Copenhagen, DK @ Hotel Cecil
Sun. Nov. 6 – Oslo, NE @ Parkteatret
Mon. Nov. 7 – Stockholm, SE @ Nalen Klubb
Wed. Nov. 9 – Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher
Thu. Nov. 10 – Cologne, DE @ Artheatre
Sat. Nov. 12 – Antwerp, DE @ TRIX
Sun. Nov. 13 – Amsterdam, NE @ Paradiso