mary in the junkyard - 'this is my california'
Mary in the junkyard return with brand new single ‘this is my california’ following the release of their debut EP earlier this year.
Mary in the junkyard are an experimental rock trio made up of guitarist and vocalist Clari Freeman-Taylor, bassist and viola player Saya Barbaglia and drummer David Addison. Freeman-Taylor and Barbaglia both come from classical backgrounds. While this isn’t what one would expect from an angsty pop-rock band, elements of the classical genre are apparent in their creative approach and they manage to blend these in really well in their music. Despite being new to the music scene, they have already worked with big names in the industry such as producer Craig Silvey who produced ‘this is my california’.
Frontwoman Freeman-Taylor says “‘this is my california’ is a nostalgic song about finding my own dreams. Seeing ‘California’ through films and tv always felt like a paradise or idea of success that didn’t really resonate with me”. The mood of the track is serene and the songwriting resembles that of artists such as Joni Mitchell and Bjork, which are known to be some of the band’s biggest influences. The lyrics work well with the instrumental and the song manages to provide a calm picture of creating a personal paradise. The song contains a lot of lyrics about “something lifting you out”. Freeman-Taylor says “growing up me and my friends would climb everything, roofs and trees, maybe to feel like we were escaping the place we were in or feel a kind of wonder of how small it was from high up”. ‘this is my california’ is a shift away from the more intense imagery of their debut EP.
Despite not having a vast amount of released music, the group have quickly become one of the UK’s best new bands and have managed to sell out venues across the UK and Europe. The band are set to perform their largest UK show as of yet at Fabric on February 27 2025.
Words by Irina Atanasiu
