Resonants are an alternative band with an eclectic, genre-resistant sound shaped by influences as varied as Garbage, Portishead and The Beatles. In a single song they can move from Radiohead’s intimate brooding to the force of Rage Against the Machine, with towering vocal harmonies, David Holmes-style electronics and the orchestral grandeur of Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory.
For Resonants, genre is a tool rather than a rule; the emotional arc dictates the song’s direction. Every piece is a sonic movie with a script and its own musical world.
The band began in 2002. Producer Jez placed an advert looking for a female vocalist, songwriter and collaborator. It ended with three words: “Must mean it.”
Marilyn answered the call. Coming from very different musical backgrounds, they found they wanted much the same thing from music: songs that were emotionally direct, imaginative and unconstrained by genre.
The collaboration caught fast. Songs were written and recorded in a dingy East London attic on a creaking old PC that could barely manage four tracks, with a makeshift air conditioner rattling against the heat of an oppressive summer.
Soon they were working their way through London: the Barfly, Half Moon, Hope and Anchor, the Windmill and the other sticky-floored venues on the live circuit. Sound on Sound named one of their demos Track of the Month. Management interest followed.
But this was the era of Pop Idol and manufactured pop. Labels didn’t know what to do with a band that refused to toe the commercial line.
Not long after their first proper studio sessions, a sudden bereavement knocked the momentum out of the band. There was no dramatic split. No harsh words or fits of ego and excess. Grief dimmed the creative fires and the duo quietly slipped apart.
Fifteen years later, Covid struck. In a clear out, Jez found the recordings again. He was struck by how fresh the songs sounded and how relevant they’d become. Political dishonesty, damaged masculinity, isolation and the pressures placed on women – songs that could have been written this year.
He called Marilyn. “People need to hear these songs.”
She was in.
First time round, Resonants arrived too early. Now the world has caught up, and they’re finishing what they started.