Marriage Material Packs a Singular Punch on Enchanted Under the Sea! As a followup to their wildly eclectic, self-titled debut in 2021, the four members of the intensely virtuosic Berlin-based instrumental group Marriage Material have found a new gear on Enchanted Under the Sea. Anchored by the powerhouse precision drumming of Felix Lehrmann and the resounding groove of electric bassist Thomas Stieger, augmented by kaleidoscopic contributions from Raphael Meinhart on vibes, marimba, MalletKAT Pro and synth and pyrotechnic shredding from six-string marvel Arto Mäkelä, this potent collection of intelligent high-energy music conjures up favorable comparisons to everyone from Philip Glass and Frank Zappa to Joe Zawinul, Allan Holdsworth, King Crimson and Tribal Tech. And while those varied influences may seep into the fabric of the ten compositions here, the members of Marriage Material apply their own personal touch to the material, which they've come to define as cinematic jazz. We came up with the label 'cinematic jazz' to emphasize the cinematic aspect of some tracks but also the improvisational element of jazz and being in the moment, explained Lehrmann. Regarding the visual aspect of Enchantment Under the Sea, as depicted on the album artwork, Stieger adds, We're all children of the '80s, so Back to the Future is one of our favorite movies. 'Enchantment Under the Sea' is the name of the high school dance in that movie [set in 1955 at the fictitious Hill Valley High School] and we thought it might be a good title for the record. We imagined our ideas gently floating and elegantly dancing beneath the ocean's surface like jellyfish or octopuses, changing colors and just looking pretty.
