Album—A Good Life Indeed
It’s been exactly one week since Marie Dahlstrøm released her sophomore album A Good Life and the world feels a little brighter because of it. So far, the album has received a thunderous applause from all corners of music media. And rightfully so. This album doesn’t have a single flaw, and it because it lives without flaw, it becomes difficult to pick a set of favorite songs. However, the vulnerability woven throughout the album makes it easy to see yourself in the music and that’s the beauty in Marie’s artistry. In the lead single, Marie describes a yearn to nurture the connection with her son, through his young and curious perspective of the world. “If I Belong” gives Marie the space to open up about the challenges in finding balance in her passions and being a family woman, while “Confide In Me” digs deep in navigating the complexities in being the support system her significant other needs— situations many of us find ourselves in as we maneuver through adulthood.
One thing that’s evident about this project is that it comes from a place of love: The highs and lows of intimate love, the love of family, and a love of self. Marie’s debut album Like Sand was an audio journey of someone discovering healthy love. A Good Life is a set of journal entries from someone that wants to better understand and apply this newfound healthy love in various areas of their life; written with a pen that represents a lot of self-work (rediscovery) and healing over the three-year gap between albums.
The production on A Good Life is immaculate. Both Marie and Dan Diggas assembled an Avengers-like cast including producers Elijah Fox and Conor Albert, songwriters Sipprell and Cory McKenzie Tribbett, with an appearance from Bass legend, Manny (salute to everyone involved in the production though). The sequencing on the album was also well done, giving the project more of a story-like quality. The reverb on the end of each track is a soft but intentional touch, guiding the listener to the next scene of the story. While this is very much a contemporary R&B album, the small bits of nostalgia delivered in songs like “The World Feels A Little Brighter” were appreciated.
Overall, this project shatters the roof for sophomore expectations but more importantly, it’s proof that toxic R&B isn’t the only product that grows legitimate fanbases. Marie has shown time and time again that R&B has space for music with a message.
Last week in a bbc 1xtra interview with Casskidd, Marie announced a live show to celebrate the album at Village Underground in London on February 8th, 2024. Get your tickets here. Let’s make this a sold out show! In the meantime, I encourage you to purchase the album and continue to run up the streams on DSPs.