Philadelphia songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Marc Silver will release his eighth studio album, The Dark Of Our Hymn, on November 6, 2026. Produced by longtime collaborators and fellow Philadelphians Andrew Lipke and Jaron Olevsky, and mixed by Tucker Martine, the album combines Folk, Americana, Bluegrass, Blues and Rock.
The Dark Of Our Hymn explores themes of “mortality, memory, ancestry, queer love, a history of violence, and the ways the dead remain with us.”
The album’s first single, “Lily White,” is out now, and Silver will celebrate the album in its entirety on November 7, 2026, at The Black Squirrel Club.
Mortality is a big part of The Dark of Our Hymn, but the songs also return to the question of what remains: “memory, ancestry, devotion, beauty, and connection.”
The song “Lily White” began with a glimmer of one of Silver’s earliest memories: “playing outside with his childhood friend Mandy, chasing dragonflies and lightning bugs, catching tadpoles and frogs, climbing trees, and getting muddy.”
Silver says:
Years later, while teaching young children, I watched a little boy in a tutu, high heels, and a feathery crown lost in make-believe with a little girl dressed like a princess, and I stopped mid-conversation, grabbed a pen, and began writing. The song is about the innocence of childhood love and the absolute sincerity with which we once believed in fairy tales and forever, before growing older leaves us faded, jaded, worn, and tired, but hopefully still tender enough to believe some of the fantastic might come true. The song nearly made several earlier records, but with Christian Sedelmyer’s strings, Jaron Olevsky’s piano, and Bobby Baxmeyer’s dreamy guitars, it finally became what it had been waiting to be.
Marc Silver is a Philadelphia-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose work has evolved across more than two decades of writing, recording, and performing. A graduate of the University of the Arts’ Jazz program, Silver has released eight full-length albums, five as a solo artist, and three with his longtime string band, The Stonethrowers.
His music has appeared in film and television, and he has shared stages and festival bills with artists including Béla Fleck, Jerry Douglas, The Mavericks, Chuck Prophet, and Sierra Hull, with appearances at festivals including the Philadelphia Folk Festival.
