Sharon Van Etten joins London's Oliver Marson for new single 'Christina'

 London-based art-pop singer-songwriter Oliver Marson today shares a new collaborative single with Sharon Van Etten, 'Christina'. The new track arrives with a video directed by Sofía Boriosi, starring Avani Gregg and Abraham Lewis.

Written while Marson was touring Europe in the summer of 2021, 'Christina' was inspired by a fleeting encounter following a show in Prague. Having instinctively dodged an unexpected kiss, Marson began the song the following day in Linz.

Its titular character grew to represent the people who briefly pass through our lives. "'Christina' as a character represents that exact feeling," Marson explains. "It is the people who drift in and out of your world, the friends who come and go, and the bittersweet weight of moments that are over before you can fully hold onto them. The track is ultimately about that deep sense of longing and nostalgia for good times that have already slipped away."

Originally conceived as a darker, Depeche Mode-esque composition, the track was subsequently reshaped alongside longtime producer Josh Rumble and Kirin J Callinan, who encouraged Marson to embrace something brighter and more expansive - with Charles Cave of White Lies contributing fretless bass.

"Because of the emotional nature of the song, I could only think of one person who could sing Christina, and that was Sharon," says Marson. A longtime admirer of Van Etten’s work, he approached her directly via Instagram after being moved to tears by her performance of "Seventeen" at Primavera Sound. "Her voice brought a rawness and emotional weight that I simply couldn’t have reached on my own."

Draping noir-pop arrangements and bruised crooner vocals in smoke and shadow, Oliver Marson’s sound falls somewhere between a haunted cabaret and woozy synth-led balladry.

His independently released 2023 full-length 'Why Did I Choose This?' examined the grotesqueries of British modern life through satirical detachment, with 2025 follow up EP 'Into The Darkness' reckoning with the existential confusion that arose in the aftermath of a breakup.

Across those releases, Marson received key press support from The FADER, The Needle Drop, Loud And Quiet, Rolling Stone, Wonderland and radio airplay from BBC Introducing and BBC 6 Music, whilst supporting John Maus, Kirin J Callinan and Jack Ladder on tour dates across the UK and Ireland.

Elsewhere, Marson has previously collaborated with Jessica Winter (on his 'Into The Darkness' EP), Jorge Elbrecht (Caroline Polachek, Japanese Breakfast), Jazmin Bean, and Fred Macpherson (Spector) - with upcoming collaborations with Millie Turner and more due to be unveiled in the near future.

Oliver Marson's new single 'Christina' (feat. Sharon Van Etten) is out now via his own imprint, High Road Records, with news of a new body of work to follow in the coming months.