Margaret Maria and Bill Gilliam (Marbyllia) Record New Music

There aren’t many genres in the world that are as naturally surreal as avant-garde instrumental music is, and rarely has that felt as obvious as it does in Uncountable Spheres, the new record from Margaret Maria and Bill Gilliam as Marbyllia. In this record, the upstart Canadian experimentalist outfit kicks ambient melodicism up a notch with a cello-focused effort as rooted in experimentation as it is something almost neo-classical in style. Their influences are indeed on their sleeve, but if one thing is ensured from start to finish in Uncountable Spheres, it’s that listeners will be treated to an all-original experience through and through.

“Stratosphere in Distress” and “Gravitational March” are more structurally abrasive than “Unexplored Worlds,” “Exiting Exosphere” or “Our Sacred Troposphere,” but the diversity of this tracklist doesn’t make it feel like a mix tape instead of a professional LP. Contrarily, Marbyllia demonstrates more versatility in this record than they needed to, which only adds to the idea that they could do whatever they wanted if given a decent enough budget and the recording space to make it happen. Putting out music like this will lead to bigger and better things, and I’m probably not the first critic to say as much.

It would be really interesting to hear a minimalist take on “Thermospheric Drift” sometime in the future. Remixes can offer us another look into the artistry of a performer without dismissing the sonic integrity of the original document (at least when they’re done right), and by and large, I think most of the material on this LP could be re-stylized at a later date if Marbyllia saw fit. Bill Gilliam in particular has got nothing to lose in staying on this vastly experimental trajectory, and if I were him, I’d think of it as giving ambient fans exactly what they’re looking for this year.

“Unexplored Worlds” probably didn’t need as beefy a compositional backbone as it was given, but at the same time, there’s nothing about its construction that I would deem negatively overindulgent – at least by modern standards. It would have been harder to make a song like this work some twenty years ago, but Marbyllia isn’t trying to reboot any retro vibes here. If they were, they wouldn’t have invested as much passion, emotionality, and raw musical eccentricities into this mix; this duo is the real article, which isn’t easy to come by anymore on either side of the pop music universe.

While it’s not the most efficiently made experimental record that I’ve heard in 2024, Marbyllia delivers a required acquisition for ambient addicts everywhere in Uncountable Spheres. I’ve always been a little picky when it comes to material created within this genre, but with Uncountable Spheres, nothing feels inaccessibly intense or boastful at all. Marbyllia, both compositionally and with regards to their performance style, comes to us on an even-keeled artistic platform in this record, and if they plan on doing the same in a follow-up album soon, they’re going to have my continued critical and personal support throughout this unfolding career.

Mindy McCall