The Vancouver-based sonic storyteller, dynamic artist, and conceptual singer-songwriter Marina Bennett releases her fifth studio single entitled "Alright."
Known for fusing her powerful vocals and expansive musical palette into her soothing sound, Marina Bennett stops at nothing until she pulls listeners deep into the moment of each release. With a bachelor's degree in Jazz Studies, Marina Bennett is able to take her musical experiences and explore sounds like pop, r&b, soul, and alt-rock.
Through her latest single, "Alright," Marina Bennett invites her audience into a deeply emotional and vulnerable space as she reminds us to look towards our future with optimism. While serenading us alongside her tender acoustic guitar, Marina Bennett offers us all the hope and faith to move past our momentary stillness.
Opening "Alright" are calming piano melodies, sweet acoustic finger-picking, and Marina Bennett's dynamic vocal range as she begins serenading us with her dreamy stylings. While describing our worrisome days and feeling lost in the difficult moment, Marina Bennett moves towards the tranquil chorus and reminds us that better days are ahead.
The song itself is incredibly cinematic, as a soulful string section makes its appearance and emphasizes Bennett's profound emotions. We're more than impressed with Marina Bennett's soothing melodies and vocal performance as she fills our speakers with her heavenly falsetto and powerful chest voice. As the song comes to an end, it would be an understatement to say that Marina Bennett left us wanting more sincere and dreamy tunes like this.
Find Marina Bennett's inspirational and touching single, "Alright," on all streaming platforms, and get to know the Vancouver-hailing artist as she continues to win listeners over with each endeavor.
Welcome to BuzzMusic Marina Bennett. We're truly impressed by the amount of heartfelt and genuine emotion within your recent single, "Alright." At what moment did you feel inspired to create this song and remind listeners to keep hope?
Last March, right after the pandemic was starting to progress and the reality of the pandemic was setting in, my anxiety was like water slowly rising all around me and I couldn't seem to slow it down or catch my breath. Everything on the news sparked fear and felt surreal-- I could feel the energy of the collective getting pushed into a wall of confusion and panic. I've always leaned heavily on music to help me process my emotions, so I picked up my guitar and this melody and these words came through-- almost like a lullaby from somewhere beyond to soothe my soul. It's so special to me when these kinds of experiences happen and the song being written flows through with ease, feeling whole and complete in the moment. I wrote it in one short session and the final vocals on the recording were sung once through to keep the same feeling I had when I first sang it. The words "It's gonna be alright" felt like a refrain I really needed to hear and the close friends I shared it with seemed to really resonate with the message too.
Seeing as your lyricism within "Alright" is incredibly personal and emotional, did you face any challenges when writing such deep lyricism? Or is this a familiar and frequent experience for you?
I'm such a deep feeler and thinker, that I think it would be really challenging for me if I wasn't able to express my emotions through poetry or songwriting. Freedom of expression is a huge privilege to me and it's something that's taken a lot of inner work for me to find a sense of freedom doing. I've had to work through a lot of blocks to create inner space and to know how to listen and receive my creative sparks. It's getting easier for me to put my vulnerability out into the world, but it still feels challenging at times to share a piece of my heart when I write something. I don't think that will ever go away, and I think that kind of fear is what stretches us as songwriters. When we're uncomfortable, it means we're being challenged to face an abandoned part of ourselves and integrate it into who we are instead of running from it. This song really taps into the inner child needing love and safety, and I think sometimes in today's world there is this illusion that we all have things "figured out"--especially through what we see in social media--when the opposite is the case. The one thing this difficult situation we all are facing has taught me is that at the core we are all truly craving a feeling of love, connection, acceptance, and safety. I want to make it a practice to keep sharing my vulnerable side amongst others because although it always feels a bit like jumping off a cliff, I like to think I'm getting more and more comfortable being on the edge.
How did you manage to create the instrumentals within "Alright" to be so dreamy and cinematic? Did you work solo during this creative process?
The dreamy instrumentals and cinematic magic of this track were created by my collaborator and dear friend Will Evans--an absolutely wonderful artist/songwriter/producer that I've had the pleasure of making music with remotely over the past year. We've written countless tracks for our project The Sea Suns and I knew that he was the best person to bring this song to life. He has a unique and artistic way of adding an unexpected twist to songs, and he does so in a very subtle way that takes intuition, expertise, and attention to detail. I sent him my lead vocal track and a track of my guitar playing, and we had a few production calls to talk about what I envisioned for the song. When Will sent me the song using the production he had developed it felt like absolute magic--he took the idea and made it even more special and expansive. I feel SO lucky to get to create music with people I care about! It fuels my soul.
Now that you have five released singles under your belt, are you planning to prepare or release a larger project anytime soon?
I have another single that I'll be releasing in early May called "Got Love", which will go together in a grouping of songs that were created in 2020 on a singer-songwriter EP. Later this spring I'm going to be recording a cinematic neo-soul EP with some local live musicians that I'm really excited about because I really love that sound and fusing my jazz/soul roots into my music. I've also been writing a pop album and look forward to releasing those songs when the time comes--most likely in 2022. But who knows! Maybe I'll surprise you! :)
What's next for you?
As the world opens up again and becomes more normal, I'm really thrilled about performing live to support my musical releases, and to connect to people who follow my music! I plan on continuing to record/release music, play live shows, live stream shows, create music video content, and eventually tour and perform all over the world. I write music for film and tv on various writing teams and I LOVE to write for other artists as well. I have a few albums I've been lucky to co-write and I can't wait to see where these songs go and how these artists blossom. Right now I'm learning production and can't wait to keep learning and growing new skills so that I can create the vision of what I hear in my mind at the highest level possible, and do the same for other artists. Eventually, I'd love to release a book of my poetry and write screenplays/musicals and possibly get back into musical theatre and acting. I plan to continue songwriting, performing, arranging, and connecting with others because it's my favorite thing in the world!