aaamusic | On 27, Jan 2011

earMUSIC, the Hamburg-based international pop/rock label part of the Edel Group, is proud to announce the renewal of its relationship with one of the most original and innovative names in English rock: Marillion, and their label Racket Records.

Marillion, known for embracing a direct “fan business model” through their marillion.com website and own record label Racket Records years before anybody else, first joined forces with earMUSIC in 2009 for the release of the album “Less is More” (the first worldwide deal Marillion chose to strike after many years of total independence). The “traditional” distribution in retail stores through Edel complements the activity Marillion are conducting through their website, offering many titles not available elsewhere.

‘Live From Cadogan Hall’ perfectly captures the overwhelming warmth and Christmas atmosphere of the final night of the “Less is More” tour (December 7th, 2009) on high definition Blu-Ray Disc (the first ever for Marillion) as well as 2-disc set DVD and double CD.

‘Live From Cadogan Hall’, released on April 4^th, was filmed in HD by 9 cameras to capture a rarely-seen intimacy of performance-detail while the soundtrack was mixed in 5.1 DTS surround mix by Marillion producer Michael Hunter.

The performance follows the same approach as the “Less Is More” album, in which the band completely reinvented their songs chosen from across the last 20 years, often re-writing the music entirely into alternative acoustic arrangements. This experimental approach sees the band playing dulcimer, autoharp, celeste, glockenspiel, xylophone and pipe organ revealing the musical flexibility and depth of this extraordinary rock 5-piece whilst giving new space and focus to Rothery’s sublime guitar playing and Hogarth’s incredible voice.

Steve Hogarth says: “It’s interesting for instance, how the alteration of melody, chords and arrangement on “Hard as Love” completely changes the meaning of the song from an overall feeling of anger and menace in the original, to one of sadness and resignation now, without one word being changed. I loved this tour – it was great to have the sonic space for the subtleties in the voice to be heard and for the meaning of the words to be more exposed. It was also cool to watch the boys swapping instruments and be in amongst all those different colours. I think this movie really captures a new face of the many faces of Marillion”

On top of the full album tracklist, the band revisit 10 additional classics during the more uptempo second set of crowd-pleasers, again with many surprises for those who have only heard the studio originals.

While the band is taking it’s time (as usual!) to write and record a new studio album to follow the tradition of excellence that earned them the trust of the best fanbase in the world, Marillion´s label Racket records and earMUSIC will announce new releases in the upcoming months.

Releasing over 20 UK Top 40-Hits, more than 15 studio albums and touring all over the world Marillion have remained one of the most innovative and musically diverse bands in the UK music scene. They have maintained a constant presence for over 25 years and were recently referred to by Classic Rock magazine as “A National Treasure.”