Christopher Moll of the Postmarks Returns with Soulful the Lovers Key (VIDEO)

Picture Marvin Gaye, Morrissey, and Amy Winehouse all rolled up in one," a big name mélange, which accomplished Coral Springs musician Christopher Moll uses to describe the R&B-infected vocals of Maco Monthervil, Moll's newest musical discovery. Moll is the gifted multi-instrumentalist behind the saccharine chamber-pop sounds of the Postmarks. Monthervil is a...

By Alex Rendon

March 8, 2013

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Picture Marvin Gaye, Morrissey, and Amy Winehouse all rolled up in one," a big name mélange, which accomplished Coral Springs musician Christopher Moll uses to describe the R&B-infected vocals of Maco Monthervil, Moll's newest musical discovery. Moll is the gifted multi-instrumentalist behind the saccharine chamber-pop sounds of the Postmarks. Monthervil is a criminally unknown vocalist with a serious set of soulful pipes.

Together, the two of them have teamed up to form the Lovers Key, a retro-pop project brimming with potential.

The Lovers Key represents Moll's next journey in music. Moll experienced a nibble of stardom with the Postmarks. The trio toured the US and Europe, played CMJ, SXSW, and Lollapalooza, released two solid original full-length albums, their eponymous debut receiving a respectable 7.9 rating on Pitchfork. After some extensive touring in 2010, the Postmarks' troupe decided to take a break, Moll going on a self-imposed leave of absence from the music business.

Moll soon grew restless however and began to seek out different ways to resurface musically. About a year and a half ago, he initiated a tireless search for a new vocalist with which to collaborate. After exhausting all his contacts and keeping an ear out for any word of mouth recommendations, Moll still could not find an adequate partner to fulfill his vision. His only other option was placing an ad on Craigslist.

Monthervil subsequently responded to Moll's listing, which described a need for a '60s influenced singer looking to participate in a project with "a sense of energy and soul about it."

Moll says he was listening to a lot of '60s garage music, and a ton of '60s soul at the time, and as soon as he heard Monthervil's plush baritone, he was sold. "I couldn't have asked for anyone more capable of embodying the essence I was looking for." Monthervil is a completely fresh face to Florida's music scene. Moll said of this diamond in the rough, "he had a couple of musical interactions that sadly never amounted to much."

Together as the Lovers Key, the two effuse a timeless air in their tunes. Moll gave us a sample of their finished work so far. The songs we sampled had a lounge-y Vegas quality to them, but with crunched and compressed keyboards and horns that give the work a fresh, distinctive character. We compared it to a union of Tom Jones' class with King Khan's sass.

Moll couldn't be more happier with the outcome so far. "I think we've got something starting to brew here that is offbeat and completely different than what people would expect from me."

Moll sent us a little teaser, which we posted below, so you can judge for yourself. More detail about the Lovers Key to follow. Moll tells us an album is in the works for this year, but a definitive release date is indeterminable at this point.

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