London’s mary in the junkyard weave folk tales and fables into ‘Role Model Hermit,’ an immersive, self-assured debut album that invites listeners to lose themselves in the band’s darkly enchanting world.

Stream: ‘Role Model Hermit’ – mary in the junkyard

London-based trio mary in the junkyard had already mesmerized the indie music scene with the release of their breakout singles “Tuesday” and “ghost” in early 2024.

Two years, seven singles, one opening slot for Wet Leg, and a publicly adored KEXP performance later, the band have built an electrically charged buzz of anticipation for their debut album. Released on July 3 via AMF Records, Role Model Hermit delivers on that anticipation, with producer Oli Bayston (Boxed In) reinforcing the band’s unique universe of dark fables and intricate melodies.

Role Model Hermit kicks off with the cool, ambient “Mantra III,” which introduces each instrument as a character played by its respective band member. Clari Freeman-Taylor (vocals, guitar, cello, viola, violin) repeats the phrase, “It is yours, babe, you deserve it,” over slowly swirling guitar melodies while Saya Barbaglia (bass, viola, violin, backing vocals) and David Addison (drums) accompany her on viola and light percussion. Stemming from Sanskrit, the word mantra means “a tool for the mind.” The track invites listeners to refocus their minds and enter the world of the album, much as a mantra creates space to connect with one’s spiritual power.

“We wanted to make something that people can get lost in,” the band tell Atwood Magazine. “Our earlier releases were often more upfront chaos, but we wanted the songs on the album to be like caves or forests, things that you can move deeper into the more you listen.”

As we begin our trek deeper into the cave (or forest) that is Role Model Hermit, we encounter “Blood” and “Seek and Destroy,” two comfortingly gritty tracks whose captivating guitar riffs hark back to what hooked listeners on the band’s previous breakout singles. In “Blood,” Freeman-Taylor opens up about newfound love, expressing her devotion and asking for similar reassurance in return. “I know Clari so well that I could feel the change within her; this vocal could have only been recorded in that moment,” reflects Barbaglia.

One of the album’s most lyrically vulnerable tracks, “Seek and Destroy” captures relatable feelings of social anxiety, with lines like “All the boys are at the bar tonight, but I can’t cope when things get left unspoken,” and “This world is too much for me, I’m just a baby. It’s all I can do to stay alive.” There is an evident dichotomy between the soft delivery of these lines and the layered background vocals, which seem to be growling as they repeat the words “seek and destroy” over and over again.

I’ve been thinking about you all day
Yeah, it’s all I can think about
They say that love makes you naked
And I need you to cover me up

Released as a single ahead of the album, “New Muscles” is an undeniable highlight. The track is both dancey and folksy, invoking images of woodland scenery one would expect to find in a modern adaptation of Peter Pan. A melancholic cello enters around the 45-second mark, darkening the song and adding an unexpected layer of sonic maturity for which the band is becoming known. “I was in the corner of the room like I was stuck to the wall. I’ve spent so long in my cocoon and now I’m fully formed,” Freeman-Taylor sings with her usual wistful flair.

This sentiment contrasts with that of “Seek and Destroy,” expressing a feeling of confidence as opposed to fear, as though the narrator’s inner spirit is coming out of hibernation. That juxtaposition also reflects the album title, Role Model Hermit. “The title comes from a kind of astrological reading – Clari’s friend has a wise aunt who told her that she was a Role Model Hermit. We think it’s a good representation of what it means to be an artist, you live half your life as a hermit, gestating and developing ideas, and half as a role model, showing your art to people.”

The lyrics of the album begin to feel more mythical and allegorical on tracks like “Myrtle” and “Peter the Dog,” leading the listener to believe that we are trekking further into the land of folk tales. “We only live one life but there are many, many lives happening all around us, all the time,” the band observes. “And we’re not just part of our own stories, but part of all these other stories as well. Fables and metaphors can help you understand what’s happening in your own life, and they can also help you be empathetic and sensitive to other lives, and other people.”

As the album’s narrator begins to describe the character of Myrtle, for example, listeners will find themselves drawn to the gothic dream girl as though she is an otherworldly work of fiction that has stepped out of a favorite book they have never read. “Peter the Dog” embraces the customary anthropomorphism of a traditional fable, with lines like “The big black dog ate all of my fear,” and “I’ve been feeding pieces of myself into his large and open mouth,” blurring the lines between dog and human, story and metaphor. Saya Barbaglia’s piano contribution creates an uplifting moment of levity that lands well in the album order.

“Crash Landing,” “Welcome Break,” and “Candelabra” are the most somber moments of the album, but each song feels entirely unique in the atmosphere it creates. It is worth checking out a live video of “Crash Landing,” as the band’s use of a harmonium can be fully appreciated in this format – an enthralling instrumental choice for such a devastating track. “Welcome Break” feels more like a moment of rebirth, with a guitar riff that drifts as beautifully as a classic Radiohead line. “Candelabra” is one of the album’s most timeless songs, its fingerpicked classical guitar creating space for the vocals to deliver lyrics of earnest confession: “I want you to know me through my songs; they’re so much cleaner than anything I could say.”

“Making and releasing the album has been a much longer and bigger process than we thought it would be,” the band share. “It feels like it’s grown from a seed to a vegetable to now a whole sprouting patch, with all the videos and the artwork and the live show, and even things like interviews.”

“Thou Shalt Sprout” is the best embodiment of the band’s intentions for the album as a whole. A rich string arrangement and rhythmic accompaniment support lyrics that fully realize the band’s folkloric ambitions. They tell the story of a narrator whose husband has stolen food from a market to feed their family. A farmer from the market then threatens to cut off the husband’s hands and eventually buries him in the dirt. From that spot in the dirt sprouts an abundance of food that proceeds to feed the mother and their daughter for the rest of their lives. Fans of artists like Joanna Newsom and Kate Bush should seek this one out for themselves.

But the farmer, he saw you
And he took out his shovel
And buried you in the dirt
Buried you down there
I went to that spot
And I saw it sprouting
With plants that could feed me
Fruit they would bare

Your heart was a beetroot
And your head was a lemon tree
Your arms were an olive branch
Your hair became corn
You fed me forever
Our daughter grew big and strong
I told her the story
Of her father’s care

Role Model Hermit closes with a second fable, “Mouse,” whose allegory can be read as a story about a relationship with another person or oneself. Regardless, the experience of losing someone, only to grow and come back together as two unrecognizable people, feels like the perfect ending to the album. No doubt, mary in the junkyard have grown into even more assured and accomplished artists during the making of this incredible body of work.

“We hope that the album and the world around it can feel like a safe, magical space for people to live inside of, or just visit for a while,” the trio conclude. “And maybe even be something that inspires them to make music or art, so that it can keep growing outwards and being this living interactive thing.”

By the time “Mouse” recedes, Role Model Hermit has become exactly the space mary in the junkyard hoped to create: Strange enough to get lost in, intimate enough to recognize yourself within, and alive enough to keep changing after the music stops. It is a remarkably complete debut – a vivid, emotionally resonant act of worldbuilding that leaves its door open and its roots still spreading.

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Stream: “Mouse” – mary in the junkyard

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 © Luke Grieve

Role Model Hermit

an album by mary in the junkyard