"From the petroleum haze of the opening title track onward, Marathon is an unequivocally beautiful album. But it's beautiful in the same way as the colors kicked into the sunset by a refinery-it's unnatural, uncomfortable, a byproduct of labor."
"Blame it on the many ways in which the world has become more dire since Maria BC released Spike Field in 2023, but the aggressively overcast Marathon feels (alongside recent and upcoming albums from Midwife and Kathryn Mohr) like part of an extended cultural response to the mounting omnicrisis-an attempt to make something beautiful despite having a tension headache."
"The spirit of protest here is contextual rather than explicit, evoking an exhaustion similar to the darkness Bruce Springsteen captured in as Vietnam drifted into the Reagan era. The characters in Maria BC's songs are never not aware of how completely the deck has been stacked against them, nor do they flatter themselves with the idea of relief."
Marathon, Maria BC's album named after a childhood gas station symbol, presents beauty through an unnatural lens—like refinery-lit sunsets. The album features threadbare folk songs, unusual percussion, and BC's delicate vocals, creating an aesthetically striking yet uncomfortable listening experience. Released amid escalating global crises, Marathon joins recent albums by Midwife and Kathryn Mohr as cultural responses to mounting challenges. The spirit of protest is contextual rather than explicit, evoking exhaustion similar to Bruce Springsteen's Vietnam-era work. Characters in BC's songs acknowledge their difficult circumstances without expecting relief, expressing resignation through intimate, tender narratives that capture the slow dimming of hope.
Read at Pitchfork
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