MaryAnne Marino

“Fall feels like spring / when you’re in love.”

This simple sentiment is one of the first to spring from MaryAnne Marino’s new EP, A Little Something, and, as the album’s title suggests, the emotions on display here are miniature in scale, but in Marino’s hands, reach deep into the gut and stick with you.

Marino’s sound sits somewhere between folk and pop, and her smoke-tinged vocals come across as a more straightforward Natalie Merchant, a less country-flecked Lucinda Williams.

The songs are rich in melody but retain a simplicity that lends to their effectiveness. The EP gets off to a rollicking start with Let’s Get Married, an ebullient ode to the simple joys of married life. It’s a bouncy and effervescent track, but Marino acknowledges that there’s a flip side of joy, and in a moody tune like Forever is Mine, she mines the sadness of love that didnt’ quite make it to forever.

There’s a cool distance in Marino’s songs, even when unabashedly singing the marriage proposal of love and life, and the approach pays off. These aren’t the histrionics of an overly-indulgent singer-songwriter laying bare her private world. Instead, Marino comes across as a confident, commanding woman in control of both her emotions and her world. The currents run deep, but they don’t overrun the enterprise, lending Marino’s EP an enigmatic, seductive air that compels.
It makes you hungry for more of her take on the world, a little more something of love, loss and melody.
-Cody Daigle, 8/20/09
- The Times Acadiana

MaryAnne Marino has been involved in the music scene for many years, even though she’s still young. She got her start performing at talent shows and by the age of 15 already had landed a job with a band. So unlike most teenagers her weekends were spent fibbing about her age in able to get into the places where her band was performing.
She was part of the November Project, performing, touring and also found on the bands 1999, “A Thousand Days” EP. She had some bad luck when the now defunct label Lava Records that she was signed with decided not to release her full-length album entitled, Ghost Of You (2005), although you can now purchase that release on her website or at live shows from her.
Now Marino is back with her 5-song, A Little Something EP. With only 17 minutes of music found on it the EP ends much too soon.
The EP’s first track, “Lets Get Married,” is a horn filled, up-tempo song dealing with young love and thoughts of having the perfect family.
Track-2, “Life Less Ordinary,” is a nice acoustic track. Track-3, “Tell Me,” offers up a nice rich arrangement. Track-4, “Forever is Mine,” is a nice medium tempo acoustic ballad.
Things wrap up with track-5, “Start Again,” a medium tempo folk rock song that talks about turning the page and starting over.
MaryAnne Marino’s music has a rich, organic flow, mixing acoustic, pop and folk music styles resulting in music that is very soothing for the soul.
- Indie Music Stop

MaryAnne Marino’s “A Little Something EP” is a collection of lush folk pop songs that immediately recall the vocal styles of Carole King and Shawn Colvin. Each song is direct, there’s not a lot of room for filler within these songs. MaryAnne Marino’s guitar playing is clean and rich sounding, which suits the organic production on these tracks.

The EP kicks off with “Let’s Get Married” a strummy staccato ode to the early novelty of young love. As the EP progresses, there are tinges of self doubt and a melancholy shadow pervades on “Tell Me” and “Forever is Mine.” “A Little Something” closes with “Start Again” an upbeat song featuring a subversive synth along with a sharply strummed melody. “A Little Something EP” showcases a new talent ready to be discovered by the masses. - VentVox

In an industry that is constantly flourishing and expanding, it is difficult for any musician to be heard.

For MaryAnne Marino, shifting from the lead vocalist of the November Project to a soloist didn't make her any quieter.

Monday, the New Yorker will play at Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles at 7PM.

A seasoned darling of the New York City music scene, the singer and songwriter possesses a soft, dreamy voice with a rare essence that doesn't need the support of instruments.

Still, the conglomeration of her sing-song, melodic voice with the up-beat rhythm of her band produces a Jason Mraz quality in some of her songs.

Her "Ghost of You" album, released 2006, is available for free with the purchase of her T-shirt on her website.

Her new EP "A Little Something", featuring the melodic song "Let's Get Married" will be available on iTunes at the end of the month.

Although Marino's music is definitely not the kind to blast in car stereos, its voluptuous quality is worth more than just a taste. It's worth the whole bite.
- Weekly Hornet Current I April Entertainment

With all of this Coachella and Stagecoach and Street Jam business, it has been a long time since I did a Now Hear This feature.

Thanks to a friend out there in the music ether, I have discovered singer-songwriter Mary Anne Marino.

She has a bit of a Sara Bareilles vibe to her on the upbeat songs, with a voice that has a certain Joni Mitchell quality to it.

I'm really digging the "Let's Get Married" track on her MySpace page. I'm a sucker for horns. "Forever Is Mine," is a nice ballad, too.

She's at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles on Monday, April 6. - The Press-Enterprise by Vanessa Franko