Romance is more tempting when it’s forbidden. That's why we gravitate towards the star-crossed lovers trope in movies and books, such as Romeo and Juliet or Titanic. We love to watch the couple sneak around and are on the edge of our seats hoping they don’t get caught. In “salvation,” Christabelle Marbun sings about how the thrill of forbidden love is all-consuming. When I first saw the title for this song, I thought it was going to be a slow ballad about the importance of forgiveness. While the song is still very emotional throughout, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the theme is completely different. Marbun’s song is actually about living in the danger of forbidden love. Instead of asking for forgiveness, she is accepting her fate by denying herself salvation.
As I said before, the song is emotional from start to finish. The first verse starts out with a tense guitar as Malburn sings, “treat us like it’s blasphemy, pray we don’t get caught.” Between lines, the music breaks with an intense booming drum and background vocals that sound like a church choir. They’re little eruptions of the music building up to the big eruption on the chorus. When it gets there, you can hear the choir again and what sounds like claps of thunder. Through all of that, Marbun declares, “I’ll deny you of salvation.” I’ll be the reason you repent.” All the elements of the song fit perfectly together and make it really theatrical. It pulled me in, and I know it will do the same to other listeners.
Christabelle Marbun was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is no surprise that she is a woman of many talents. She has published three collections of poetry, one of which took the #1 spot on Amazon’s Bestsellers List for Asian poetry. She is also an actor and stars in Station 19, a spin-off show for Grey’s Anatomy. As for music, it’s hard to believe that “salvation” is only Marbun’s second single. Her first single, “passenger seat” is another emotional song about a breakup. After hearing them both, I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next! Marbun currently resides in sunny California. She finds happiness in reading books and shopping at Trader Joe’s!
Written By Kelli Dixon
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