Tel Aviv-locals and indie pop duo, Lola Marsh, are no strangers to the ups and downs of tackling a professional career in music.
Since signing to Anova Records in 2013, the band–formed by Gil Landau (guitar, keyboards) and Yael Shoshana Cohen (vocals)–has continued on their own unique path to stardom, and show no signs of stopping any time soon.
The pair, who are now joined by Mati Gilad (bass), Rami Osservaser (guitar, keyboards), and Dekel Dvir (drums and samplers), put their own spin on traditional indie pop—it's refreshingly sweet, but also emotionally raw. “If the duo’s charisma were a weapon, you’d hate to see it fall into the wrong hands,” once noted NPR’s Stephen Thompson in regards to their most popular single, “Wishing Girl”. The light-hearted energy that they exude, both musically and aesthetically, is undeniably charming, and is part of the reason that fans have become so drawn to them over the years.
“Echoes,” their first single since the release of their 2017 debut record, hit the airwaves on July 12, giving listeners a taste of their new music. A far cry from the sound they’ve been associated with thus far, this single is a triple threat—it's haunting, silky-smooth, and mesmerizing all at once. Blending the melancholy memories associated with a past love whilst still encouraging listeners to get up and dance, this track is a promising sign of their new material.
With a second record potentially in the cards, we had the chance to ask the duo a few questions via email about their musical aspirations, personal relationship, and what fans might be able to expect from them.
“Echoes” was released on July 12—what can you tell fans about what they might expect to hear? Have you changed direction at all, in terms of what listeners might be familiar hearing from you?
We feel that “Echoes” maintains the essence of Lola Marsh. It has this cinematic and nostalgic vibe that we love. It was new for us to write a song and immediately start dancing; most of our songs are not that danceable, ha :) We really hope our audience will love and dance to this song too.
Your discography is potently emotional—lyrically and sonically—despite its sometimes up-beat, folky exterior. When writing, where do you draw your material from? Life events? Stories you’ve read? Dreams you’ve had?
The inspiration comes from so many things- people we meet on the road, beautiful places we’ve been to, exciting moments that happen in everyday life, books we’ve read, movies, songs, nostalgic memories and, of course, relationships.
We know that Yael auditioned for The Voice with a rendition of Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” a while back. When it comes to Lola Marsh’s sound, do you cite any artists (like Lana) as having inspired or influenced the direction you have gone in? Or did that come about organically based on how you two collaborate?
We have so many musical inspirations, like Nancy Sinatra, Edith Piaf, the Moody Blues and many more. It’s funny, on the day “Video Games” came out, Yaeli got so many messages asking if we released a song (big compliment!) cause there is truly something similar in the melancholic color in their voices. In our songs, we have our happy, sunshine-y side, too, and fantasyland lyrics that are coming from our own private world.
Of everything you’ve released thus far, are there any songs that are particularly meaningful to you?
Wow, that’s a hard one! It’s like asking us to choose who is our favorite kid. Mmm… they are all meaningful to us, of course. Maybe it’s changing from time to time; in the summer, in the winter, when we’re happy, when we’re sad, we can find ourselves connecting to different songs according to the seasons, and our moods.
But maybe, maybe there is a favorite child after all haha...there’s something about “She’s a Rainbow” that no matter when we play it or hear it this song makes us very emotional. There’s something really classy and immortal in this song for us.
For anyone who has yet to hear your music, what would you want them to know about Lola Marsh?
We can tell them that maybe we are all about the songs. We truly try to let the song lead us. When we write, we usually don’t have a plan or rules or even a cohesive road that we’re going on. Just songs- and they tell us what we need to do. And sometimes it takes time to figure out what the song wants to be.