Progressive Rock Legends MARILLION Unleash Video for ‘A Friend For The Earth’, Coinciding with Earth Day 2022

If you dive into MARILLION ’s extensive catalogue, you will find several songs that take on  the topic of environment and humanity’s impact on it. The 1989 album and title track “Seasons End” is only one of many examples. Now, over 30 years later, in times of ‘Fridays For Future’, an ongoing pandemic and a  general big uncertainty about the future of humanity, the topic does not lack relevance – quite the opposite! 

Coinciding with Earth Day 2022, MARILLION today release a new video accompanying what  is chapter two and three of ‘Reprogram The Gene’, a song released on their new album  “An Hour Before It’s Dark” on March 4th, 2022. While the song and video deliver a clear message on the one hand, MARILLION also leave  room for everyone to have their own flavor of what the words of this song are about. Watch the video below.

Steve Hogarth about ‘A Friend Of The Earth’:  “We are not of the heavens. We are of the earth. And whether you like it or not, when it  dies, it’s gonna take you with it. The planet is screaming in our faces like an approaching  express train. Some of us can hear it but don’t listen. Some of us can’t even hear it. But  getting out of its way is our only hope. We’re at a tipping point right now. Not to act, is suicide. Too self-righteous? How about: Turn the thermostat down and eat more veg.” 

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Whether it’s the last hour you were allowed to play outside as a child before you had to go home, a reference to the fight against time in relation to the climate crisis or the last minutes in a person’s life, MARILLION once again put their finger on the pulse of time. Be it social, political, or personal issues, MARILLION have never minced words and have always found a way to combine them with their own unique sound, known for incredible songwriting, melodies and top-notch musicianship, while swimming against the tide, not bending to norms and limitations. “Be Hard On Yourself” couldn’t be a better example of this.

“Despite the seemingly bleak contemplations across this album — the virus, our mortality, medical science, care, AND Leonard Cohen (ha ha) — the overall feeling of the music is surprisingly upbeat,” said singer Steve Hogarth. “I think the band are as on form as they ever were really, and the addition of Choir Noir has added another new soul and color to things.”

Like its predecessor, 2016’s critically acclaimed and chart-topping album “F*** Everyone And Run (F E A R)”, “An Hour Before It’s Dark” was recorded at Peter Gabriel‘s Real World Studios, which also provided the perfect backdrop for the carefully chosen selection of behind-the-scenes footage in form of a documentary on the making of the album and a performance of “Murder Machines” from Real World that will be released together with the album.

Founded in 1979, British rock band MARILLION has, over the course of 19 studio albums, become one of the most commercially successful progressive rock acts of the 1980s and is still one of the most outstanding representatives of their genre. MARILLION embraced the potential of the Internet for both their commercial approach and to interact with their audience, long before most of their peers.

“An Hour Before It’s Dark” Album Artwork

“An Hour Before It’s Dark” track listing:

1. Be Hard On Yourself
   1. The Tear In The Big Picture
   2. Lust For Luxury
   3. You Can Learn
2. Reprogram The Gene
   1. Invincible
   2. Trouble-Free Life
   3. A Cure For Us?
3. Only A Kiss (Instrumental)
4. Murder Machines
5. The Crow And The Nightingale
6. Sierra Leone
   1. Chance In A Million
   2. The White Sand
   3. The Diamond
   4. The Blue Warm Air
   5. More Than A Treasure
7. Care
   1. Maintenance Drugs
   2. An Hour Before It’s Dark
   3. Every Call
   4. Angels On Earth