Marlene is letting go and “Running” towards the future with her first solo release in three years

Breakups can often inspire the more heartfelt of records and with “Running”, Marlene opens up about the “black hole of pain” she experienced when she found herself in that situation.

Based in Stockholm, Marlene released her debut single “Bon Voyage” back in 2013 which was followed, the next year, by her debut EP Indian Summer. That same year she released “Love You Anway”, a collaboration with fellow singer/songwriter and producer Ji Nilsson. This was the first of many collaborative releases between the pair, who now perform and create as the duo Pure Shores. Their latest release, “Like A Fool”, is their third single and draws heavily on disco influences.

2020 marks Marlene’s return to her solo moniker. “Running” is the first single to be taken from her long-awaited debut full-length album which is set to be released later this year. Released alongside “Without You” the songs simultaneously chronicle the same moment in Marlene’s life. The still-untitled album follows 2017’s independently released mini-album Sweet.

We caught up with Marlene to find out more about her latest releases, her work with Nilsson and what she’s got planned for the rest of the year.

BEST FIT: What have you been up to the past couple of years?
Marlene: I actually crashed after the release of “Miss You A Little” in 2017. I came back home from LA and my partner at that time broke up with me so I literally fell into a black hole of pain. I was exhausted and I thought of just giving up, even though I was at my peak career-wise. But, here I am releasing music again, feeling better than ever. I didn’t do music for months, but I’ve been writing a lot and also released music with my music partner Ji Nilsson. We put a name on our team and call ourselves Pure Shores, and decided to use that name for when we do collaborations.

How do you know which song is going to be for which project?
Often I don’t. Sometimes we write something with someone else in mind and when the song is done I feel like ”this is a song I wanna do, it’s about me”. You can’t really write a song without pouring inspiration from your own life into it, so I guess that’s why it’s such a small step from being someone else song to making it yours sometimes.

What spurred you on to release under your own name again?
I never really wanted to give up as I love music too much, and that’s what I do best, but I guess, I needed to feel that I didn’t have to do anything for a while. Taking a break was so good for me and it made me so inspired. I’ve been writing so much about everything I’ve been through, so it’s been really therapeutic.

What's "Running" about, where did you find the inspiration for this song?
I heard the chorus in my head one night, so I recorded it immediately. And then I took it to the studio, and Ji, the day after, so we could finish it together. It’s about feeling like you’re finally over the person that broke your heart, but you’re not sure how you would react if that person would try to take you back. You’ve moved on and it’s all good, but you’re not sure you’d be that certain about it if he would be standing right in front of you begging you to take him back.

Why release it with "Without You" as a b-side?
It’s a very special song to me. It might be the most special song I’ve ever written and I cried so much during the process of making it. So I knew I had to release it and not only as an album track but yet I didn’t feel it was a single. When “Running” was written I thought they fit so well together and that they were telling the same story.

What have you got in store for the rest of 2020?I
’m releasing more singles and I have my first real full-length album coming out later this fall. It feels comforting in these crazy times of Corona knowing I can still write and release music. Maybe we all need that more than ever now. I’m gonna put my time and focus on making the album as good and heartfelt as I possibly can.