Marian Hill at the Penthouse at the Standard Hotel, East Village

Samantha Gongol

Jeremy Lloyd, the son of a conductor and an opera singer, first heard Samantha Gongol sing at a school talent show in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Years later, Lloyd studied music theater and composition at Yale University and Gongol studied music business at New York University. The two reunited and started writing and recording original music together as Marian Hall, with Gongol on vocals and Lloyd on synthesizer. The electronic duo released the Play EP on March 4, 2014.

Joined by bassist and saxophonist Steve Davit tonight at the Penthouse at the Standard Hotel, East Village, Marian Hill performed uncommon electronic music; most of the songs were slow and sparse rather than multi-layered dance floor anthems. Lloyd started many songs with a skeleton bass line and drum beat and gradually filled them with a wider backdrop of modern electronic sounds as the compositions progressed. Meanwhile, Gongol sang in a soft and sultry voice, recalling old-time after-hours speakeasy jazz influences. Together, the duo married the two disparate decades-apart generations of music into a smoky pop blend. Supported by the addition of Davit's warm saxophone and subtle bass lines, Marian Hill presented an imaginative approach to electronica.

Visit Marian Hill at www.soundcloud.com/marianhill.