Black Marble returns this Friday, August 21, with Life in Small Spaces, the fifth full-length from Chris Stewart’s long-running project. Released through Sacred Bones Records, the album follows 2021’s Fast Idol and finds Stewart taking Black Marble in a somewhat different direction.
While Black Marble has long been associated with synth-driven coldwave and darkwave, Life in Small Spaces puts more emphasis on guitar and live-sounding percussion. Stewart draws inspiration from early American underground and college-radio bands including Pylon, The Necessaries, and R. Stevie Moore, as well as the sparse, metronomic approach of Wire. The result is a more organic sound that still retains the melancholy and understated pop sensibility of Black Marble.
Lyrically, the album looks inward, examining the realities of making music independently and the pressures that come with trying to build a sustainable life as an artist. Stewart considers authenticity, success, and the compromises that can come with pursuing a career in music, ultimately embracing a simpler existence on his own terms.
Three tracks have been released ahead of the album: “Jim Carol New Year,” “Anything,” and the newly released “It Always Comes to Me.” The latter arrived with a video directed by Claes Nordwall and filmed around New York City.
Life in Small Spaces contains 11 tracks:
- It Always Comes to Me
- Jim Carol New Year
- Anything
- Get Back Up
- Other Man’s Dream
- Guess
- Life Without
- Missing History
- Panopticon Calls
- Picture When
- Sonny Boy
For listeners who came to Black Marble through its earlier synth-heavy material, Life in Small Spaces promises a subtle shift rather than a complete departure — a darker, more guitar-oriented take on Stewart’s familiar world of detached vocals, understated melodies, and melancholy atmosphere.
Life in Small Spaces is out August 21, 2026, via Sacred Bones Records.