Premiere: Marching Church – Coming Down

Following last year’s full-length, This World is Not Enough, Marching Church is set to release a new 12” with Sacred Bones Records next month. What started out as a solo project by Elias Bender Rønnenfelt has turned into a somewhat consistent group of musicians from bands such as Lower, Iceage and Puce Mary – some of whom he will be bringing to Amsterdam on February 17 for our very own Subbacultcha show.

Coming Down: Sessions in April is the result of the ambitious endeavour to play jazz music with musicians who never played jazz music before. Even for those familiar with Bender Rønnenfelt’s usual orchestrated mess, the result definitely takes some getting used to.

The slow-paced track is hard to figure out, and the vocals and heavy breathing make the whole thing quite visceral – it feels really personal, maybe too personal even. After having this song on repeat for a while, it actually starts to feel intrusive, but it’s also hard to turn away. Why do we take pleasure in beating ourselves up like that? We’re not sure. But it appears Bender Rønnenfelt sure loves a good beating from time to time too.

Whatever the singer is trying to express is obviously not easy, nor is it all that inviting for us to listen to. But here we are. Bender Rønnenfelt is coming down, and he’s dragging us with him.

‘Coming Down: Sessions in April’ 12” will be released on February 19 and can be pre-ordered at Sacred Bones. Marching Church’s tour starts on February 17, right here in Amsterdam.