Anyone worried about the future of Marin music can sit back, relax and enjoy “White Gold Tear,” the debut album from Faust & Fox, a brother-sister duo from Corte Madera with the potential to become the next big thing in power pop and soft rock.
Young singer-songwriter Trevor Marcom, who holds a degree in performance from the Boston Conservatory, wrote the 11 hooky, melodic songs on the ballad heavy album, handling lead vocals in a crooner’s voice that recalls Michael Buble or Peter Cincotti.
On the album’s first single and video, “Sweeping the City,” a dark-hearted mid-tempo love song, sister Kate Marcom’s breathy vocal shadows her brother’s with such sensitivity and precision that it sounds as if they were singing in one voice.
Marcom’s heart-throb vocal soars above an ensemble of acoustic guitars and a four-piece string section on “Angel My Love,” another pretty love song on an album full of them. The strings bring an orchestral majesty to “Is It Us,” yet another big ballad, this one with obvious influences from the Beatles in its rich vocal harmonies and dramatic dynamics.
Marcom shows he can rock as well as swing on “Where Was I,” a hand-clapping R&B-influenced party tune in which he laments being “across the bridge in Brooklyn” instead of by his lover’s side.
“White Gold Tear” is a slick, polished first album featuring some of Marin’s finest musicians, including Mill Valley ace Jimmy Dillon on electric and acoustic guitars, former Robert Cray drummer Kevin Hayes and longtime Van Morrison bassist David Hayes. Michael Matson conducted the four-piece string section and the Marcom’s father, Roy Marcom, plays keyboards.
Faust & Fox have youth, talent, engaging songs and extraordinary voices. What else is there? They have it all.
