Like a lot of bands,
Black Marble like to liven up their concert set lists with well-chosen covers. Unlike a lot of bands, on
I Must Be Living Twice they took the opportunity to record studio versions of these songs. Chris Stewart and company made the EP at the request of their fans, some of whom loved the group's interpretations of these songs, and some of whom weren't even aware that they weren't
Black Marble originals. Listening to
I Must Be Living Twice, that confusion is easy to understand: Stewart knows exactly what songs suit his style, and exactly how to adapt them. The EP's mix of new wave, post-punk, and indie pop is very much a continuation of
Black Marble's sound, and shares the dreamy L.A. haze that covered the project's previous album,
Bigger Than Life. While all of the tracks included here make sense for
Black Marble to cover, none of them are especially obvious given Stewart's influences.
Robert Palmer's "Johnny and Mary" is probably the most famous song here, but Stewart still finds his own spin on it by turning up the synths and drum machines and connecting to the songwriting, which has quite a bit in common with
Bigger Than Life's bittersweet character sketches. By contrast,
Lives of Angels' "Golden Age," from their 1983 album
Elevator to Eden, is a relatively buried treasure, yet it's also a perfect fit for
Black Marble's stark-yet-poignant interpretation. Stewart's softly twinkling synth pop makeover of
the Field Mice's "Emma's House" is nearly as seamless in how it reflects the way his own sweet melodies took the lead on his last album. He gets more adventurous on his version of
Grouper's "Poison Tree," which uses the song's winding keyboard melody as a foundation for explorations of echoing space in ways that are faithful to
Liz Harris' aesthetic as well as his own. All in all,
I Must Be Living Twice sheds an engaging light on
Black Marble's musical perspectives and creative process. Not only did the fans who wanted these songs committed to tape get their wish, it's a pleasant surprise for everyone else.