New Video: Black Marble Returns with Propulsive “Anything”

Singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and Black Marble creative mastermind Chris Stewart will be releasing his fifth Black Marble album, Life in Small Spaces through Sacred Bones Records on August 21, 2026. The album, which is Stewart’s first full-length album since 2021’s Fast Idol, is an album of clear-eyed commentary and analysis of the music industry as a whole, a discussion of authenticity and a heartfelt letter to all the independent creatives out in the world.

“I always knew a lot of people in music struggled to make ends meet, but it surprised me to learn that the people you thought would be doing well often weren’t. For me, seeing the business from the inside like that changed how I looked at things,” Stewart says. “When I looked up to see a new artist on a billboard, I started to wonder, ‘will I one day have to pretend to be something I’m not, in order to succeed?’ The life of an artist goes on after your moment ends, you know? So who do you want to be in the end and how do you want to be seen by the people that know you? I made Life In Small Spaces while thinking about that, and for me, it serves as my own ideal for living an artistic life. I’m doing it as a vocation, not some last-ditch effort to escape to some other world. I made this record not only as a way of saying that, but as a way of saying it’s ok to feel that way. It’s ok for people to sacrifice some degree of creature comfort in order to live a life you believe in. And it doesn’t have to be an endless search for something just out of reach, it can be a permanent way of being and something that sustains you.”

Drawing from early American left-of-the-dial “college radio” staccato guitar lines and live drum samples, the album’s material sees Stewart eschewing his usual wall of synths-driven sound for a more live sound. 

The album will include the previously released “Jim Carol New Year,” a decidedly upbeat, 1980s New Wave-inspired track and its latest single, “Anything.” Anchored around an angular and propulsive rhythmic pulse and shimmering and squiggling bursts of guitar, “Anything” manages to channel early New Order and Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are DEVO! and Freedom of Choice-era DEVO but instead of frustrated carnal desires, the song has a decidedly domestic bent. It’s not exactly content, but it has a sense of humor about daily annoyances and irritations of friends and loved ones, the frustrations of constant stimulation and instant gratification when it seems you can’t find either. And at its core, the song points out it’s difficult to connect with people, when most folks are lookin to bail on people for the smallest possible thing.

“‘Anything’ is basically a bedroom pop version of ‘Satisfaction’ but it trades the carnal undertones for more of a domestic pastiche. With lyrics about leaving the bedroom window open, casual druggy friends popping by at all hours and other relationship annoyances, the center of the struggle is less about finding temporary satisfaction but that today’s glut of options and opportunities gives every relationship an expiration date, every encounter an easy off ramp and every minor annoyance a reason to move on,” Black Marble’s Chris Stewart says. “The sentiment is the same from those old days, lack of fulfillment, but it’s due to modern circumstances. It feels like we have every option at our fingertips but we’re somehow losing the ability to connect.”

Directed by Scott Kiernan, the accompanying video was shot at New York’s Various/Artists and captures the song’s themes of overstimulation by featuring a rapid-fire barrage of vibrant images with a meditative and occasionally bemused Stewart flickers throughout the visual noise and chaos.

Stewart will be embarking on a tour to support the new album throughout August and September. The Serfs will be opening for the West Coast leg of the tour. The fantastic Public Circuit will be opening for the East Coast leg. Jimmy Cicero will also be an opener for a select number of shows. The tour includes a September 10, 2026 stop at Webster Hall. Check out the rest of the your dates below. 

Black Marble – TOUR DATES

* w/ The Serfs

# w/ Public Circuit

(and Jimmy Cicero for select shows)

Aug 22 Constellation Room at the Observatory Santa Ana, CA *

Aug 23 1720 Los Angeles (LA), CA *

Aug 25 Rickshaw Stop San Francisco, CA *

Aug 26 Harlow’s Sacramento, CA *

Aug 28 The Crocodile Seattle WA *

Aug 29 Wonder Ballroom Portland, OR *

Aug 30 Shrine Social Club Boise, ID *

Aug 31 Urban Lounge Salt Lake City UT *

Sep 1 The Federal Theatre Denver CO #

Sep 3 Slowdown Omaha, NE #

Sep 4 Fine Line Minneapolis, MN #

Sep 5 Thalia Hall Chicago, IL #

Sep 6 El Club Detroit Detroit, MI #

Sep 7 Lee’s Palace Toronto, ON #

Sep 8 La Sala Rosa Montreal QC #

Sep 10 Webster Hall New York (NYC), NY #

Sep 11 Union Transfer Philadelphia, PA #

Sep 12 Ottobar Baltimore, MD #

Sep 14 Kings Raleigh, NC #

Sep 15 The Earl Atlanta GA #

Sep 17 White Oak Music Hall – Upstairs Houston, TX #

Sep 18 Club Dada Dallas TX #

Sep 19 29th Street Ballroom Austin, TX #

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