Dark, grunge-tinged guitars immediately command attention, bringing shades of Soundgarden and Alice In Chains to The Marches’ melodic rock sound, with the faintest trace of folk rock lurking around its edges. A recurring guitar riff helps hold the tension in place as the vocal moves convincingly from quiet confession towards something increasingly resolute. The arrangement gradually gathers weight before a satisfyingly expressive guitar solo provides its late-song payoff.

There’s no accompanying video, but ‘The Habit’ already conjures a suitably dark and moody world of its own. Rather than making its theme of repetition overly literal, The Marches allow the recurring riff and steadily building tension to suggest a cycle that’s difficult to escape. Heavy enough to hit hard but never sacrificing melody, it’s a strong glimpse of what Faultline has in store.

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‘Feel It All’ marks the first song written with the intention of being played by the band, with all previous material being pulled from writing sessions pre-dating their formation. Starting life as a simple acoustic demo, guitarist Jane Jenkins presented it to the band, and they set upon shaping it into the track we hear today. Vocalist Katie Palmer drew inspiration from Carole King’s ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’ for the lyrics, exploring the fear associated with being vulnerable in a relationship and those feelings not being reciprocated. Despite the intention behind the song, the band say that everyone brings their own situation to the song and takes away their own meaning.

Any insecurities the song might seek to address are hidden under sun drenched melodies that float along before building through the pre-chorus and to the crescendo of the chorus, backed by staccato stabs from Kate Morrow on drums helping drive home the point. It’s bassist Nichola Singleton that provides the pulse that drives the song forward while maintaining a melodic counterpart to the vocals. The production is sharp and crisp, the brightness helping capture that effortless California-type-cool. The band had already established a musical vocabulary with Danny and Olly in Raptor Music Studios from previous releases so turned to them again to record and mix the track.

Helping add a visual language to the song the band are excited to be working with Stuart Alexander (Sony, Bowling for Soup, LaFontaines). Keen to ensure the visuals were representative of the story the band were seeking to tell, they worked through ideas together. The result is a highly stylised, cinematic music video that winds a symbolic narrative while showcasing the bands performance.

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