Track-by-Track: Odd Marshall Sizes Up His Debut Record ‘Sand & Glue’

It’s been an interesting journey through life for Odd Marshall, and he makes sure that he takes none of it for granted. He officially released his debut record, Sand & Glue, earlier this month. This is a true songwriter’s kind of album, one that you can tell comes straight from the heart. The record is an assessment of navigating life’s crossroads, inspired by some of Odd Marshall’s own personal turmoil and challenges. His life was suddenly turned upside down when he was involved in a car accident after a snowstorm. The experience was traumatic, and Marshall found himself reaching towards songwriting as an outlet, something he had gotten away from. It didn’t take long for him to rediscover that passion for music, and he slowly worked his way back into his craft.

Sand & Glue features eleven new tracks. A lot of topics appear throughout the record, with recurring themes like chance encounters, near-misses, and unforgettable memories distributed throughout. While the songwriting was all led by him, Marshall worked closely with producer Don Kerr, known for his work with Ron Sexsmith, Dan Mangan, and Bahamas. Marshall is a true storyteller and that’s what the focus of Sand & Glue is. It was written in a way that makes it relatable to any listener.

We are pleased to be joined today by Odd Marshall for an exclusive Track-by-Track rundown of Sand & Glue. He shares with us the stories and the inspirations behind each gem on this impressive debut record.

1. “Nobody Wins”

“This didn’t make my short-list for the album as myself and producer Don Kerr were selecting tracks, but he insisted it was ready to present to the session players (guitarist Mike O’Brien and bassist Jason Haberman). I’m glad he did. The three verses discuss personal failure, relationship failure, and global failure, respectively. Another lost cause where nobody wins.”

2. “Santa Barbara”

“We were definitely chasing a California-groove sound JJ Cale’s work on this song about a flirtatious encounter in Santa Barbara. ‘Your boyfriend is in the band, but you don’t understand, I never heard of him.’ It was a brief encounter that never had a chance, but failure often makes for the best stories, unfortunately.”

3. “Luck Dragon”

“Another song about falling in love at a Chinese restaurant. The fastest, most aggressive song on the album came out of a night out ending at a local take-out restaurant. The verse riff came out of nowhere on the edge of my bed as the room was spinning around me, and the lyrics came the next morning.”

4. “Ghost”

“A Smashing Pumpkins-ish song with a slow build written for a film I wrote, Portrait of a Failed Musician, about a musician struggling with demons and regrets but somehow recovers. The riff was written over a decade ago in drop-D tuning. I’d stopped playing guitar for over a decade, and this was one of the building blocks I had in place to kickstart the writing process. It’s about demons we carry with us and the need to move forward regardless.”

Odd Marshall ‘Sand & Glue’ album artwork

5. “It Ends Tonight”

“The song is about the end of a good relationship. I probably should have fought longer and harder for that relationship, but youthful love never quite articulates the value of a potentially long-term relationship or how to achieve that. But it was fun. Convoluted, cryptic verses that build to a climactic ending representing the good sex in a bad relationship.”

6. “More To Me”

“‘I don’t believe in love’ is the chorus, which always felt kind of trite to me. The song is about frustrations in life choices and the world in general. ‘Someone hides the answer, but you know the answer is yes. Something you remember, when all you want to do is forget.’ More frustration was definitely the note I gave to set the mood in the studio. Hopefully, reaching a dramatic conclusion.”

7. “Midsummer”

“Candy. A fantasy about frolicking through the grass at a Swedish Midsummer Festival. The only song I’ll write with ‘la la la’ in the lyrics. It’s an older song that I wrote one January in Karlstad, Sweden with three hours of sunshine. My fingers cramp when I play it live. I kind of hate it.”

8. “London”

“A love song for the city of London, England. I went for six months and stayed for six years in my 20s. I started writing songs in London. Formative years. This driving, steady beat reflects the way a big city can beat you up. Ultimately, it’s a part of me and who I’ve become. Wherever I am, whatever I am, I’m yours.”

9. “Tomorrow Never Comes”

“This Dylan-esque—thousand words and a steady beat— song tells the story about finding a dozen journals in the basement and getting to know my father after he died. Around the world and back again, his stories described backpacking around the world in the 1960s. He took the album’s cover photo in the Sahara desert in 1968.”

10. “Dirty Trick”

“A tight riff-based rock song about mistrust and the ‘dirty trick at the end of this.’ Trepidation, desperation, and vulnerability mixed into a song about trust. I wrote this song before my ten-year hiatus and producer Don Kerr selected it due to its unpredictability. A stark contrast to the songs I’m writing now, which are much more lazy. This song always feels like homework getting the changes right.”

11. “What You Take”

“We’re all addicted to something. Velvet Underground or groove-era Rolling Stones were the obvious references. The chorus is a scream for help: ‘Have you got something for my solitude? What do you take to be you?’ A lot of questions slowly building to regret. We’re all ultimately let down by our addictions in their many forms.”