THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Marcellus Hall’s third solo album, I Will Never Let You Down, is a collection of infectious power-pop gems from the former frontman of blues-punk buzz band Railroad Jerk. This is the Minnesota-born singer-songwriter’s first solo album in 10 years and includes long-time accompanists Damon Smith (bass) and Mike Shapiro (drums). It follows The First Line (2011) and the self-released Afterglow (2013).
“This album was five years in the making,” Hall continues. “We wanted to get it right. The pandemic intervened, but we got it right. These are songs about love, loss, hope, and redemption.”
A video for the title track, directed by Jason Wishnow, was released with the album. Says Hall: “The sentiment for the song arose from a genuine, desperate, romantic, feeling that I was experiencing several years ago. I decided to make a song of it. Damon, our bass player, insisted that I make it the title track. I think he was drawn to the fact that the lyrics are more naked than other lyrics of mine. The video for the song was inspired by a 1950s film about a famous painter.”
Meanwhile, “The video for One Night fell together magically,” Hall says. “Having filmed with an iPhone several takes of me lip-synching at the magic hour on the Lower East Side of New York at Corlears Hook, I sent the footage — with a batch of band photos and drawings — to filmographer Andrew Hooper, who had just relocated to Chiangmai, Thailand. But despite the distance and our having never met in person, we were on the same page. Andrew’s frenetic cutting and beautiful graphic sense perfectly complement the song whose talk-sing, collage lyricism has antecedents in Railroad Jerk’s Ballad of Railroad Jerk (1994), White Hassle’s Vodka Talking (2004), and my solo release Wait A Minute (2013).”
Hall’s career in music began with the band Railroad Jerk, whose deconstructed indie-rock featured on four Matador Records LPs. The Rollerkoaster video appeared on MTV’s Beavis and Butt-Head and the band toured Europe, Japan, and the U.S. David Berman wrote to him personally, saying “I just wanted to let you know what a great record you’ve made. Each one’s been better, but this one’s a leap, best thing I’ve heard in months, so many ideas… Not normally inclined to write a fan letter, but couldn’t help it this time. Congratulations”.
His subsequent band White Hassle mined a stripped-down Americana, recorded three LPs, and toured Europe. Modest Mouse singer Isaac Brock got the title of their Life Is Still Sweet album tattooed on his arm, and said it inspired the band’s 2004 hit Float On. Life Is Still Sweet will be re-released digitally this winter with an accompanying video.
In addition to songwriting, Hall works as an illustrator of children’s books and works for publications such as The New Yorker, to which he has contributed six covers. He has published multiple comics-related books and zines, including Kaleidoscope City (2018), and is currently developing a long-form graphic memoir of his coming of age in the indie-rock world of the 1990s.”
