Three years after Immaterial made Black Marble a big name internationally, Chris Stewart has signed to Sacred Bones and released a new album called Bigger Than Life. Today, the cold wave influences are mostly gone and the genre seems to have died out anyway. Bigger Than Life is a big pop record, with incredible hooks and catchy guitar lines – still underpinned by Peter Hook-esque bass lines. “Feels” is one of my favourite songs of 2019 with its brilliant chorus “I used to have radio show, but not a lot of time though”. The line “I’ve nothing to live up” also makes me think he’s been listing to The Field Mice.
