lyric videos

If you’ve followed my music tastes over the past couple years, The Mariana Hollow may already be a familiar name to you. This alternative metal quintet from London, United Kingdom was hands down my favorite discovery during my tenure at Sonic Cathedral. Muscular rhythms, oceanic guitarscapes, evocative lyrics, and a gritty yet impassioned female voice – this unique amalgam has always made TMH a stand-out act.

Recently the band released two videos for “The Unburned”: one featuring the band, and the lyric video highlighted below. Maybe I’m biased, but how cool is the lyric video?! The archaic animations look like they came straight out of the medieval / Westeros era and make countless references to George R.R. Martin’s A Song Of Fire And Ice saga. “The Unburned” itself was inspired by the character Danaerys Targaryen. Musically, this song is like one of Dany’s dragons prowling the desert before taking flight. It builds slowly, shouldering the gravity of its riffs and a thick sultriness, as Rebecca Spinks sings with a storyteller’s passion. It’s a truly unique song from TMH’s repertoire – and if you like this track, I highly recommend you check out other songs by this band!

“The Unburned” is taken from The Mariana Hollow’s 2013 EP Scars, Not Wounds. You can read my review of the EP at Sonic Cathedral here.

Yes, I’m a proud Grobanite! And although the popular classical crossover singer Josh Groban hasn’t released any new albums recently, I’ve been listening to his music the past few days to “pump up” my excitement about seeing him in concert for the third time later this week. If I had to pick one song from his latest CD, 2013’s All That Echoes, that I’m looking forward most to hearing, it would have to be “She Moved Through The Fair.” This traditional Irish ballad has been covered by numerous artists over the years, including Celtic Women, Loreena McKennit, and Hayley Westenra. Josh’s version is the one I’m most familiar with, and it still entrances me. The simple acoustic arrangements fit the lyrics’ pastoral love story like a summery white dress. And with Uillean pipes, a harp, and a violin along with Josh’s moving baritone, it stirs feelings of emotional intimacy that are hard to find in typical love songs. Think of it as a musical snapshot of seeing your lover’s innocence and true beauty for the first time, on a field of wildflowers under the stars. It takes my breath away every time – and honestly, it’s so beautiful that I don’t mind if it does.

Oh, and you get a bonus with the video below – because it’s a lyric video! Enjoy. 🙂

Sara Letourneau

Poet. Freelance editor and writing coach. SFF enthusiast.

Music Mondays: The Mariana Hollow – “The Unburned”

Music Mondays: Josh Groban – “She Moved Through the Fair”