“And lays the bodies, bodies, bodies over yesterday.“
While now a well-documented ascension, the rise of Mareux is arguably one of the more fascinating climbs towards popularity in recent years of the darkwave genre. Initially springing to fame with a synthised remix of The Cure‘s “Perfect Girl“, he made himself a viral sensation across message boards and social media with short montages of remixes interlaced over nostalgic visuals and films from the past including Fight Club and Career Opportunities. While it isn’t just Mareux whose sounds have delivered similar outputs, the remix in question and use by its audiences show the end point we are at when it comes to the permanence of history, where bundles of nostalgia can be quickly digested and grant that allure of the past.
That simply could have been it for Mareux — the flashes of popularity come and go at an ever-quicker rate — making the quick fame of Pop Idol acts from past decades seem like a long afternoon. Yet despite an initial EP in Predestiny that didn’t quite hit the mark, Mareux showed his craftsmanship on debut full-length, Lovers From The Past. Showcasing a narrative and emotion of unrequited love, the likes of “Night Vision” and “Little Lies” had a brooding force to them; a weight that the ethos of romance can sit on the heart. It would seem that this is where Mareux would make his home, pulling on the heartstrings with his melancholic darkwave sounds. Instead, another twist has been added to Mareux‘s tale, with sophomore full-length Nonstop Romance delving towards the world of electro-pop and hear throbbing throws of romance.
This shift in perspective and sound shows itself from the outset of “Radio Club” musing “Your love is like a drug” and “my heart can’t take it all“, with lyrics in the manner of a love-struck teenager’s journaling. Post-punk styled “Blue” delivers “It’s you, it’s you, I’m thinking of“, thick in vocal effects and a racing drum groove. Like many across the record, these tracks contain the almost drug-like, euphoric mindset that being drunken in love can deliver. Rather than anything ballad-esque and explosive, with one exception, it is that of the intimacy romance can bring, showcased through thumping beats or reverb drenched vocals.
On Nonstop Romance, Mareux does at times lean into that nostalgic sound that gave prominence to his initial rise, yet one that was absent on Lovers From The Past in this form. The most evident of this is midway track “Ébène Fumé“, which drafts in the sublime Riki on vocals. Riki is one such vocalist who has more than showcased their ability to write heartthrob tracks, with the likes of “Marigold” fully indulging in romantic sense, while writing hooks that are ever-so catchy. From the glistening synth-work and the twang of an 80s-bassline and Riki‘s ballad vocals, it does perhaps create a track that feels too pastiche. While in isolation, it is a souring ballad that captures the ear, it’s difficult to escape that sense that much of this already feels heard from acts of the past who have clearly influenced it.
This does rear its head earlier on with the title track “Nonstop Romance“, a song with beats and vocal patterns that feel far too familiar to many of the “Somebody To Love” remixes that are out there. While this could be seen as intentional, Mareux’s own spin and version on it simply draws the mind to want to listen to the original. This isn’t to say that Nonstop Romance is one big nostalgia trip, which too many in both the various “wave” genres and modern pop rely on. The likes of “Wild At Heart” deliver the succinct and catchy beats with Mareux‘s vocal timbre to make for toe-tapping outings. “Laugh Now Cry Later” feels familiar to that sound on Lovers From The Past, a lamenting track with the heartbreaking chorus “Although it breaks my heart / Don’t wanna make it stop / You’re gonna string me along“. Yet due to the record’s six tracks, with both the opener and closer being an instrumental intro/outro tandem, the flirts with nostalgia do perhaps feel more prevalent here.
For a genre that more than often relies on emotion and the atmosphere it builds, there is good reason why it has amassed an impressive following since the likes of synthwave and darkwave fully emerged in the 2010s. This means that each iteration must take the listener somewhere new each time, which Mareux has identified here. Most people are not the same as they were two or three years ago, yet too often release cycles can delve into the same flurry of emotion as they did before, lessening the experience when venturing through the record. This is why Mareux must be commended for this shift. While it is albeit slightly too brief with a heavy dabbling on nostalgic sounds at times, it still does deliver a Mareux record that will take listeners to new places and keep that attachment to an artist that can now consider himself more than established in this genre.
7/10
Nonstop Romance releases on June 27 via Revolution / Warner Records and can be pre-ordered here.