While most fans know Chris Davids and Liam Ivory as the duo behind Maribou State and singles like “Native”, “Mask”, and “The Clown”, the two artists shared a love for music long before gaining fame. Meeting in school, the two formed a friendship over their love for music. And from there, they created a career that continues today. Outside of their contributions to music, the duo also produced songs for artists like Lana Del Rey. Although Maribou State recently promoted upcoming shows, the group announced they were canceling all performances due to Chris Davids recovering from brain surgery.
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With summer just around the corner, Maribou State hoped to perform at the Stowaway Festival, The Lost Village in Lincolnshire, and Forwards Bristol. And if that wasn’t enough, the duo also worked on their third album. But on top of canceling their performances, the duo shelved their upcoming album.
Explaining their decision to put all work on hold, Davids wrote in an Instagram post, “In 2022 I was diagnosed with a rare brain condition called Chiari malformation. It had been the cause of a mix of symptoms including; debilitating headaches, insomnia and bad mental health, which have been hugely impacting my life and productivity in the studio. After trying a variety of conservative treatments I made the difficult decision to undergo brain surgery in November last year”.
Chris Davids Promises Maribou State Will Return
While Davids noted the success of the surgery, he added, “There were multiple complications that have since slowed down my recovery and presented me with new challenges, that five months on, are still ongoing. As a result we’ve had to make the hard decision of pressing pause on the project for the time being. We are therefore very sad to say we are cancelling all our live shows this year and postponing the release of any new music.”
Reassuring fans this was not the end of Maribou State and they would eventually return, Davids thanked the fans for their continued support. “Thank you all so much for your patience. It’s been a long journey since the last album but we’re both so grateful for the all the love and support you’ve continued to show, and we both truly can’t wait to send some of that back your way once I’m out the other side.”
(Maribou State – Full Performance (Live on KEXP), n.d.)
