Style: Midwest Emo, Art Rock, Math Rock, Indie Rock (Clean Vocals)
Recommended for fans of: American Football, Radiohead, Delta Sleep, TTNG
Country: United Kingdom
Release date: 13 Aug 2026

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Glasgow is pretty far north. Sunlight hours in winter are scarce; if you work a 9–5, there are entire months where the sun rises after you get to work and sets before you leave. It’s cloudy, too: in January, you’ll see fewer than two hours of sunlight on the average day. Glasgow also routinely ranks near the top of lists of places to live if you’re interested in high anxiety, poor mental health, and prevalence of depression. What I’m saying is that it’s a great place to be sad. And when I’m sad, I like to listen to sad music. Helpfully, Glasgow natives Marceline are creating some great new sad stuff to listen to.

Marceline are new to the scene. Playing their first shows this past winter, the band recorded and released their debut EP In Spite of Time just a few weeks ago, followed by an EP release show shortly after. They’re already making waves locally—are they set to be the next big indie sensation out of Alba? Or does it take a particular kind of person to enjoy their sound, restricted to the misty cloudscapes north of Hadrian’s Wall? Will I think of a third way to refer to Scotland?

Marceline are an interesting mix of midwest emo—with prominent cross-stick drumming, twinkly guitars, and unpolished, vulnerable vocals—and Radiohead-style art rock, alternating between liminal, airy vocal passages and heavy, crunchy guitar breaks. The band’s four-track EP debut, In Spite of Time, presents a considerable range of influences, drawing to mind comparisons to bands like American Football and Delta Sleep on the first two tracks and fellow Glaswegian indie rockers Belle & Sebastian on the third, with the Radiohead influence most prominent on the finale (and the first minute of “Mongrels”). A compelling blend of styles that, although never-before-heard (at least to this author), seem to mix well.

The instrumental performances on In Spite of Time are notable for their consistency. Usually, on a debut album, there is a clear stratification in talent from “the person who founded the group” to “the bassist’s little brother who we pulled in to play drums”. But all of the instrumentalists in Marceline seem to be on roughly equal footing. The drummer (Lewis Barry) not only holds down the rhythm section through difficult transitions, but effortlessly flits across the toms, filling the space with a more varied rhythmic palette than the average rock drummer. There is a good variety of percussion (including what sounds like maracas and tambourine) which helps to provide a bit more depth, as well. As for the guitars, multiple members are attributed to multiple instruments, so it’s hard to pin down who, specifically, is delivering which performance, but the bass runs near the beginning of “ILL” and the end of “Strange Feeling” and the heavier, distorted guitar work beginning about 3:10 into “Mongrels” stand out. Finally, the vocalists (Ruby Pryor and Austin Major) work well together; the distinct timbres of the two voices, one male and one female, allow the group to explore a wider variety of moods, without being so distinct as to be jarring. Both vocalists sing comfortably within their natural ranges, aren’t noticeably pitchy, and serve the songs well.

Even at times where there is no particular standout performance occurring, the production and layering on In Spite of Time do their part in carrying the song forward. For a debut EP, In Spite of Time is remarkably well-mixed. None of the instruments overpower the others, each is clearly audible and distinct. The layering of tracks does well to keep the listener engaged: as soon as one guitar part starts to become a bit repetitive, another layer fades in to replace it, like a kaleidoscope shifting and changing endlessly. (“Strange Feeling”, in particular, exhibits this.) There’s a persistent airyness throughout, as well. There’s not a single track where a keyboard holds a sustained chord, providing a “background colour” to the track. The instruments stand on their own, the negative sonic space emphasizing their importance.

Where In Spite of Time falls short is in its adequacy. It’s a good album, but there are no great, standout performances, nothing that would make this listener stop the track, thinking “I have to share this with so-and-so”. It’s a seriously solid debut, especially for a group that have been together for such a short amount of time and are only just finding their footing, but it doesn’t drop my jaw. The guitar solo near the end of “ILL” is fine, and it serves the song well in its simplicity, but it’s not amazing. “Out of Touch” is a bit flat, dynamically; it’s got a nice, almost-psychedelic vibe, but it doesn’t really go anywhere from start to finish. There are a few points throughout In Spite of Time that feel like missed opportunities to let loose and get really heavy, or break out a chunky, distorted guitar solo à la “Paranoid Android”. I want more of the ups and downs of life translated into music—I’m missing some of that on this EP.

Any band should be happy to produce a debut EP like In Spite of Time; the songwriting is good, all of the performances are solid, the lyrics are not noticeably amateurish. It’s not inaccurate to compare it to something from a band like Radiohead, which is, in and of itself, an accomplishment for a young band. But Marceline are new, and still have some work to do to define and solidify their own sound, hone their songwriting, and grow as a group. Far from discouraging, In Spite of Time has me eagerly anticipating what’s next from Marceline, because I know they’ve got a solid footing and are on the road to bigger and better things. I’ll pack my SAD lamp if I have to travel all the way to Scotland to see them, though.

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Recommended tracks: ILL, Strange Feeling
You may also like: Hey Marseilles, Colour, Covet, A Great Big Pile of Leaves
Final verdict: 7/10

https://marcelinebandd.bandcamp.com/album/in-spite-of-time

Related links: Bandcamp | Instagram

Label: independent

Marceline is:
– Ruby Pryor (bass and vocals)
– Austin Major (bass, guitar, vocals)
– Fernando Vasquez-Miranda (electric and acoustic guitar)
– Max Williamson (electric and acoustic guitar)
– Lewis Berry (drums and percussion)