In psychology, the term “dialectics” has to do with holding two contradictory ideas at once. The concept helps better explain the complexities of life when there’s truth in two opposing views.
As New Orleans indie rock band Mars & Other Planets began to go through some significant changes in the last few years, dialectics was an idea that Marissa Douglas returned to often. Douglas had built her musical identity around guitar and her vocals, but after chronic pain made playing guitar more difficult, she decided to focus on the keyboard. That led to new instruments, new sounds and new ways of doing things as Mars & Other Planets
So “Dialectics” ended up being an appropriate title for the band’s eclectic, new album.
“To me, the ultimate kind of dialectics in this was on the one hand, me not being able to play guitar as a result of chronic pain is so disastrous, and also it gave us this opportunity to create a new sound and feeling,” Douglas says.
Mars & Other Planets released “Dialectics” in early February, and the trio — Douglas, baritone guitarist Chris Billiot and drummer Lex Condes — play an album release show on Friday, Feb. 27, at Carrollton Station. Keaton Schiller and Lisbon Girls also are on the bill.
The band digs into a range of genres on the album, from grunge and indie rock to folk, metal and jazz. There also are theatrical touches as the songs unfold, like on the opener “Fever,” which starts with a heavy doom riff before resolving into piano-focused verses and a disco chorus.
Mars & Other Planets balance a lot of ideas in both the instrumentation and Douglas’ frank, relatable lyrics. It’s a result of how the band has had to change in recent years.
Douglas, who grew up in New Jersey, first came to New Orleans to attend Tulane University and, with her guitar, began playing open mics and meeting other songwriters. Wanting a band to help her flesh out musical ideas, Douglas started Mars & Other Planets in 2023 with drummer Jade Trahan and other musicians.
The band released a self-titled album in 2024, and although the songs were built around Douglas’ acoustic guitar, she rejects the folk label some people have tried to put on her music. Her influences have been far more diverse, from rock bands like The Pretty Reckless to hip-hop and sludge band Neurosis.
Douglas met Billiot, a musician and producer who grew up in Chalmette, when Mars & Other Planets was looking for a new studio to record the album. He soon joined Douglas and Trahan on bass, and the band operated as a guitar, bass and drum trio for a while.
But as Douglas began developing nerve pain when playing guitar, she decided to adapt to the piano and keyboard, which prompted Billiot to pick up a baritone guitar in early 2025. As the trio began working on new music, they noticed the sound was changing. The instrumentation was heavier, and Douglas’ lyrics were a little angrier — still, delivered in an airy, clear voice.
“I always wanted to express these extreme emotions, extreme sounds and extreme changes and shifts,” Douglas says. “So when people said I played folk, that’s not very extreme. I was always trying to look beyond that.”
Douglas and Billiot moved to the Northshore last year and began recording “Dialectics” in their house, and in June, Trahan left the band. Condes joined a couple months later, and the trio just finished the seven-track album in January.
“Every song is completely different from the other songs. None of them are the same genre as you go through it,” Billiot says. “It’s a journey. We were really intentional about the flow of it.”
The Feb. 27 show starts at 9 p.m. Find more info on Instagram: @marsandotherplanets.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nola.com ’
