Marlon Williams

My Boy, New Zealand singer-songwriter Marlon Williams’ third album, sees Williams having fun while questioning his own behaviors and those of people around him. After touring extensively in support of his previous release, Make Way for Love, he returned home to New Zealand, reconnected with family and friends, returned to his Māori language and culture studies, and joined a basketball team. Soon new demos and lyrical themes emerged: of self-identity and escapism; tribalism and a gnarled family tree; and ruminations on the role of masculinity and mateship. “Growing up an only child,” he says, “I had to outsource my brothers and build a world around me. So while masculinity is a big theme, it’s really subsumed by broader explorations of vitality, and the social and cultural value placed on legacy.”