What The Marsh Family provided for this year’s unusual season of festivities is a work of great depth and conscience. Down to earth and real, their cover for this infamous Christmas carol touches on the sours in all of our collective human experiences this past year, and passes through to the other side in a decided triumph.
Based in Faversham, the United Kingdom, The Marsh Family is a family of talent, vision, wit, and message. Consisting of parents, Ben and Danielle Marsh, and their 4 talented kids, Alfie, Thomas, Ella, and Tess, this talented family managed to achieve worldwide attention in 2022 with their witty, humorous musical videos and their responsible social and political stances and commentaries. Incredibly talented, all the instruments played and recorded for this amazing cover by members of the family, resulting in a cover that’s outstandingly well done. The tight drumming and delicious-sounding bass are expected to take a back seat in a song of this kind, but they delightfully refuse to do so in this rich cover. Instead, they are beautifully played and have nuanced and intricate parts, next to them being mixed in so nicely in the song’s professional and complete-sounding production. The definite highlight is, for sure, the stunning vocal deliveries from the members of the Marsh Family. From Danielle’s serene and classical introducing us to this piece, followed by Thomas’s deep tenor, Alfie’s charming and impressive soprano, Tess’s grounding and present delivery, Ella’s gorgeous falsetto, and Ben’s grand, distinctive voice, every member of this family has a distinctive voice that’s easy to tell apart.
Celebrating a peculiar Christmas in the tails of a year full of strife and pain, globally, In The Bleak asks us to take heart, and share in hope and resilience. A song that calls for solidarity, with the world as well as with each other, this cover is warm, and beautifully, and outstandingly well put together. I’m glad I’ve been introduced to this family’s rich talent.
