Why Marques Toliver remains a mystery to the majority of the indie blogosphere is a mystery to me. The 24-year-old Florida native has the kind of virtue that normally sets blogs all over the country on fire. His full embrace of string instruments as the primary (and sometimes sole) backdrop of his soulful voice is a combination that’s hard to get enough of.
After experiencing success in his hometown, Toliver moved to New York at the age of 20 on a whim, started busking, and fell in love with the city, which served as the primary source of inspiration for his songwriting and things took off. After a meeting with TV On The Radio’s Kyp Malone and recording sessions with none other than Grizzly Bear, among others, he set out to London where Adele gave him another push.
The British soul singer’s championing allowed Toliver to become one of the first ever unsigned artists to play on “Later… with Jools Holland” where, armed with just a violin and his voice, he gave a stunning performance of his best song to date, “White Sails”.
Equally as stunning was the performance delivered in the Black Cab sessions, and as James Blake (who Marques Toliver has recently toured with) said, “if you sound like this in the back of moving cab, you’re doing something right!” At its core, the song (currently only in recorded demo form, which you can download below) is a cry for togetherness and support improper of a man so young that once again speaks wonders for the young songwriter.
In stark contrast to the bareness and emotional power that “White Sails” is, Marques Toliver’s only full studio work to date, the “Butterflies Are Not Free” EP released in April, has a much more expansive sound, incorporating drums, bass, and soulful backup vocals. At the core, though, the songs remain just his voice and strings making clear just what it is he does best.
What really sets Marques Toliver apart is that there really is nothing out there that sounds quite like him. Being classically trained has allowed him to expand beyond what most artists are able to do, finding an incredible balance between the likes of classical composers like Bach and global pop/R’n’B superstars like Beyoncé or John Legend.
A perfect example of the way such contrasting styles mesh together beautifully comes in on “Deep In My Heart”, possibly the EP’s strongest point. Here Marques Toliver takes a turn for the modern, while maintaining his style, resulting in a soulful pop tune complete with backup singers, a large part of the string family (which are always the backbone) and some light percussion. A similar formula is employed throughout the other three songs, where opener “Anniversary” also stands out bringing a bit of hip-hop swagger to the table.
With time, it’s going to be incredibly interesting to see where Marques Toliver takes his sound. His goal remains to have a “crossover success” incorporating strings into pop music, as he mentioned to Time Out New York and so far the world is his to conquer. I for one, will be waiting at the edge of my seat.
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