Inevitable
Margaux's debut full length album is a powerful meditation on impermanence and death
“Picture it so you’ll know” - Just one of many of Margaux Bouchegnies’ heavy, reflective lyrics flirting with the subject of death, the afterlife, and existence. Her insightful debut album, Inside the Marble, is a casual descent down the dark and mysterious stairway of the unsettling subject of what happens when we die. Eschewing metaphor, her songs approach the oncoming train with grace and equanimity, but they certainly don’t sugar coat the topic: “Open wide… It’s the end of your life… Take a look in the mirror… Hey Sadie, don’t fear.”
Sadie Something (Inside the Marble, 2024 Massif Records)
The composition and instrumentation on the album range from vintage 60’s-70’s psych-rock to ethereal indie folk, with throughlines of painfully honest lyrics sung with a delicate and beautiful vocal delivery that borders on spiritual at times. If you listen closely, you’ll find sonic treasures that will transport you to pretty unexpected places, all hidden in plain sight. The production (Sahil Ansari) is so seamless and smooth that I guarantee you’ll be genuinely surprised when you discover the array of instruments that appear on the album. I won’t spoil it for you… Listen first and then look for yourself.
It’s not all doom and gloom, however (and honestly, her take on our shared and inescapable fate is open to interpretation), as some of the subject matter deals with friendship, family, love and loss, and the vulnerability it takes to live an authentic experience on this plane. In ‘I Wouldn’t Want It Any Other Way’ Margaux addresses distance and reconnection, and how we can’t ever truly know how we’ve changed without some frame of reference:
I Wouldn’t Want It Any Other Way (Inside the Marble, 2024)
As an accomplished multi-instrumentalist (She’s the bassist in Closebye), Bouchegnies’ versatility is on full display on Inside the Marble. A look at the credits reveals a wide array of her own contributions to the album, including upright bass, piano/Mellotron/Farfisa/Moog/Wurlitzer, Glockenspiel, percussion instruments, and obviously, guitars and vocals. Like I said above, check the credits for a pretty impressive list of other instruments that cameo throughout.
An older tune that appears on 2024’s Inside the Marble, Midnight Contact addresses self-discovery and the feelings of solitude and helplessness that accompany the unknown. The production of the Paper Moon Session videos is exquisite, as is the accompanying guitar work by Izzy Oram Brown:
‘Midnight Contact’ (Inside the Marble LP) from the Paper Moon Sessions, Finn Vintage, Brooklyn NY
‘Hot Faced’ (More Brilliant is the Hand that Throws the Coin EP), from the Paper Moon Sessions, Finn Vintage, Brooklyn NY
Margaux’s live performances are a potent and distilled brew of her minimalist songwriting approach combined with her charismatic presence and spellbinding vocals. Small in stature, her stage presence becomes at once enchanting the moment she begins plying her craft. Anyone would be hard pressed to turn away from one of her performances. Bouchegnies’ on-stage demeanor is coy and innocent at first, but don’t be fooled… If you make direct eye contact you might get more than you bargained for.
Picture It, live at Union Pool in Brooklyn, Inside the Marble album release party. Video credit Jarrett Wolfson
Margaux’s 2019 five song EP, More Brilliant is the Hand that Throws the Coin, has all of the near-perfect production and genre-fluid composition as her 2024 release, and dovetails seamlessly despite the gap of time between them. The often orchestral arrangements dance efforlessly between some light-hearted grunge pop sounds and that slightly spooky folk-rock that shines through on Inside the Marble, and it deserves as much attention.
Sandwiched in between her two albums is a gorgeous if not slightly wistful single entitled Everlasting Snow, that captures a mood of desolation, solitude, shortening of days and lengthening of shadows.
I’ve had a pretty good year with regard to new music, and finding Margaux’s new album was no exception. I was lucky enough to see her three times this year, in Brooklyn, Boston and Burlington Vermont, and I’m looking forward to future shows, hopefully soon! 🎄