We’re giving you plenty of notice for this one because you are going to need it: Marlon Williams (along with his band the Yarra Benders) has a date with Geelong’s Workers Club on December 10. The New Zealand crooner, who is currently based in Melbourne, is having a dream run at the moment.
His self-titled debut album charted at a healthy #4 in its opening week in NZ, while its accompanying launch tour sold out across the board. He has also been making a solid impression on the international market, inking agent and label deals in North America and Europe. He made the move to Australia in 2013 from the town of Lyttelton, picking up a Tuesday residency in the Yarra Hotel’s front bar where, in time, he started to generate the sort of love he felt back home. As for his album, it’s an eclectic bunch of songs, as he told SMH’s Craig Mathieson earlier in the year: “The idea was to be as disparate as possible because it’s the first album of mine a lot of people will hear and I didn’t want to limit the scope of what I could do in the future. My hope is that my voice is the binding thread on these very different songs.” Once again, that is Geelong’s Workers Club on December 10.