Stream: Marion Belle, ‘Kisses + Chrome’

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Marion Belle

Fatal Jamz frontman and conjurer of glam-era ghosts Marion Belle today released a new EP, “Kisses + Chrome.” It’s the second of two album-length EPs he’s released in the past five months (following September’s “Gatorade”), both rolled out with less fanfare than they deserve. They don’t call him a “cult crooner” for nothing.

And croon he can. Today’s release, highlighted by the richly textured “Pantera,” offers tender acoustic balladry along with new wave dusted by the glitter of yearning. “Debut” is as cool as drying sweat under a disco ball; “Under the Narrow Seas” is prime Lost Eighties material; and “Hwy 69” is a plaintive acoustic guitar-based track made with Cullen Omori (Smith Westerns).

And the songwriter’s imagery matches his exquisite vocals on “Waterfall”: “Remember my love / the rivers we’ve crossed / Remember the blue / waterfall.”

We remember.

||| Stream: “Kisses + Chrome” in its entirety

||| Also: Stream 2021’s “Gatorade”

||| Previously: “Soundcheck,” “Bad Bitches” (with Sam Mehran), “17 & Hung, Bowery Beasts