Trains make for inherently cinematic settings: the claustrophobia, the momentum, the fact that you can’t just walk away when things go sideways. Dennis Dewall clearly knows this, and he’s using it to full effect in THE TRAIN, an espionage thriller that narrows his Spy Capital universe into the confined intensity of a luxury locomotive.

Dennis Dewall stars as Major Alex Stirling, a former SAS operative who finds himself in the middle of an intelligence turf war aboard the Majestic Imperator, a privately owned train carrying high-profile passengers through Central Europe. When rival intelligence services close in, what follows is a volatile mix of surveillance, manipulation, and direct confrontation. The train becomes a rolling battlefield where everyone’s watching everyone else, and nobody’s safe.

What separates this from standard action fare is the man behind the camera. Boris Volodarsky isn’t just a filmmaker. He’s a legitimate espionage authority who’s written extensively on KGB operations, Stalin’s intelligence apparatus, and high-profile political assassinations. That real-world credibility shows up in the film’s approach, lending THE TRAIN grounded authenticity that distinguishes it from more stylized espionage entries.

The cast pulls its weight. Madalina Bellariu Ion, who’s appeared in projects like THE YOUNG POPE and TAKE COVER, plays Natalie Krug, an operative who’s equal parts dangerous and magnetic. Anouk Auer holds her own as Stirling’s daughter Olivia, adding emotional weight to the high-stakes narrative. The ensemble rounds out with Peter Ormond, Alan Burgon, Martin Ploderer, Suzanne Grieger-Langer, Polina Kuleshova, and Nadine Grosinger, all contributing to the film’s international texture.

Dewall and his team shot across Vienna, London, Malta, Bangkok, Budapest, and Prague to capture authentic international locations. The action choreography, handled by martial arts expert Ali Kabalan, emphasizes physical realism. Dewall performs his own stunts, which adds weight to the physical confrontations and underscores the production’s commitment to authenticity.

THE TRAIN releases September 10, 2026 in Germany and Austria, with a London premiere and additional territories following a week later. Dewall’s emphasis on physical authenticity and real-world intelligence expertise positions THE TRAIN as a grounded entry in contemporary espionage cinema. Sometimes the best action happens when there’s nowhere left to run.

There’s a certain kind of silence that’s louder than anything else. It’s the noise in your head when you’re alone in a parking lot, checking your phone, staring off into nothing. That’s where Will Retherford lives right now, both literally in the visualizer for his latest single “Voices” and figuratively in the work he’s creating as Saynt Ego. He’s not trying to escape grief or quiet the internal dialogue. He’s learning to sit with it, and he’s inviting listeners to do the same.

You’ve said “Voices” is about getting stuck inside your own head. Walk us through how that song came together.

I fixate on a concept, then take musical references and ideas into the studio with Logan Bruhn, creating collaboratively until the song reveals itself. It’s built around restrained beats, atmospheric synths, and emotionally driven vocals exploring the internal noise that pulls you forward and holds you back at the same time.

The visualizer is just you alone in a parking lot. Why was that the right visual?

The visualizer (created by Logan Miller) reflects that liminal space—stillness, motion, and reflection suspended between where you’ve been and where you’re going. It’s simple, but it captures that feeling of being stuck inside your own thoughts in a way anyone can relate to.

Your music explores grief, mental health, and transition pretty directly. What draws you to those themes?

Learning to create without chasing approval has been huge for me—making art I believe in, whether it’s received or not. Learning to believe in myself first before I expect others to follow. My music tells personal stories of loss, change, and becoming. It’s about learning how to sit with pain, move through liminal spaces, and grow into who you’re meant to be.

You’ve built a whole career as a producer with Citizens of Sound, featured in outlets like The New York Times and Entertainment Tonight. How does that production background shape your approach to making music?

As a producer, I’ve always been learning how to grow a team, move people in roles around like chess pieces in order to make the best possible art. Collaboration is your best friend. My music producer, Logan Bruhn, taught me that the best music is discovered in the room, not perfected beforehand.

For someone who’s never heard your music, how would you describe what you’re doing?

I make cinematic, electronic music about grief, transition, mental health, and becoming. I hope it gives people space to feel, reflect, grow, and breathe.

You’re juggling music releases and your first short film right now. How do those two worlds connect for you?

I knew I wanted to be a filmmaker as a kid, but music became my first true language for creating. The turning point came when I realized I didn’t have to choose. Film and music were always speaking to each other—I just needed to let them exist as one artistic path instead of two separate lives. Saynt Ego is part of a larger creative ecosystem where music, film, and storytelling inform one another.

What’s coming next?

I’m rolling out singles from Liminal Space while completing my first short film “Penny: A Portrait in Motion,” scored with original music. New music through spring, a full album in May, plus select shows, festivals, and the short film this summer. I’m focused on releases, sync, and growing an online audience, letting shows happen intentionally and organically.

“Voices” clocks in at 3:40, built around a restrained production that values feeling over excess and space over noise. Released December 16, 2025, it’s the first chapter from the upcoming record Liminal Space. Retherford isn’t trying to fix grief or silence the noise. He’s learning to sit with it, and the music creates room for listeners to do the same.

Follow Saynt Ego on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. For Will’s filmmaking and production work, visit Citizens of Sound or follow Will Retherford on Instagram and IMDB.

Marloma used to write alone. Locked away with a piano or guitar, wouldn’t present anything until it met exacting standards, followed strict release timelines and marketing strategies. Everything controlled, everything polished before anyone else could hear it. Then came John Curtis-Sanchez, a guitarist and audio engineer whose approach is the complete opposite. He tries everything, isn’t afraid of vulnerability or imperfection in the early stages, lets happy accidents happen before worrying about polish.

It shifted everything. The songs she wrote still came from that place of isolation and perfectionism, but John’s production approach brought something different to the arrangements. Happy accidents in the studio, experimental choices she wouldn’t have made alone. Her songwriting instincts combined with his production sensibility created something neither could have done separately.

That’s essentially the story of Marloma, the Phoenix-based Sad Girl Indie-Pop Rock band that’s gone from a bedroom project to a full collaborative force involving 100 local creatives on their upcoming concept EP. With over 30k+ Instagram followers and a growing reputation across Arizona venues like The Marquee and Crescent Ballroom, Marloma isn’t just one person anymore. The band now includes guitarist and producer John Curtis-Sanchez, bassist and vocalist Kalleigh Gibson, keys player and backup singer Cassidy Brooke, and drummer Angelita Mia Ponce. Together, they’re making music for young women who feel too much and need to hear they’re not alone in it.

You’ve written nearly 300 songs. Take us back to the specific moment when you knew this was what you were going to do.

I have always known I loved writing songs and singing, but the pivotal moment in my life where I decided it was worth pursuing as a career path was when I was 14 years old. My friend of the same age was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and tragically passed away.

It happened so fast, I still feel completely devastated that she is no longer here to make me laugh. I tried to process my grief the way I process all of my feelings, through songwriting. My mom heard me playing the tribute I wrote and asked to share it.

When my friend’s mom heard it, she asked me to perform it at my friend’s celebration of life. I remember feeling the weight in the air as I walked up to the front and began singing her song. It felt like the one moment that wasn’t absolutely dreadful because I felt that I truly made a connection. Not just with every attendee, but with her.

I was thanking her and making a promise to keep her memory alive and in that moment I kind of really felt like she understood. I don’t know what I believe in terms of anything spiritual but I know what I felt in that moment.

So I decided that even if I wasn’t a doctor or a lawyer, creating art was an important job and I wanted to be one of the people to do it. In fact, the reason that the Marloma brand is so heavily associated with the color green is to honor her. Green is her favorite color and the color of her eyes, which I liked to call her “emerald eyes.”

If someone’s never heard your music before, how would you describe what you do and what you hope they take from it?

I would describe my music as “Sad Girl Indie-Pop Rock” because it comes from a place of deep vulnerability and I think women might resonate with it the most. I truly hope that when people listen to my music they feel validated in any harsh emotions they may try to hide. I want them to really feel the words, which is why I implement prosody in my music. Essentially, I make the melodies match any words that could describe a melody. For example, if I say the word “high” I would make the melody go higher in pitch so that it subconsciously resonates with the listener.

Walk us through how you actually create. Where does it happen? What does the process look like from the first spark to the finished product?

For me, melody lines and lyrics have always come at the same time so I never have to worry about adding music to my lyrics or vice versa in post. Most times I’m home alone and I begin to play a chord progression on an instrument like a piano or guitar. Then, the rhythms and rhymes just kind of happen. Although lately inspiration has been striking me in the car. I have a complete library of single lyrics sung in my voice memos app accompanied by the sound of wind whooshing past my car windows and grainy noise from the air conditioner.

I have to capture it in the moment so I can mold and shape the idea when I’m home in front of my instruments. I never sit down with an idea or situation or feeling in mind when I write a song. In fact, I rarely am aware enough to understand what’s going on in my own head until I listen back to my completed song. That’s when I understand what feelings and tones I’ve been hiding from myself. Songwriting is truly therapeutic.

What’s something you had to figure out the hard way?

I had to learn that some people just aren’t going to take me seriously because I’m a woman in the music industry. And as a matter of fact, if they do, I probably have to earn that respect by doing twice as much as they’d expect. Talent won’t really get you anywhere if you’re not also constantly working on building your audience, honing your skills, educating yourself and making sacrifices. I’m happy to do all of those things, but it does feel like I’m often underestimated regardless.

What are you working on right now that you’re excited about?

I just released my heaviest rock song to date on January 1st, called “Win.” This song serves as the embodiment of female rage and revenge fantasy, so I’m very excited about the music video that’s in its final stages to accompany this song. I really put my trauma on display in this video and it was honestly pretty hard to film and relive but I couldn’t be more proud of how it turned out and the message it gets across. I won’t say too much on the plot but I will say that it is the darkest visual story I’ve ever experimented with and the thesis is that our vulnerability connects and empowers us as women.

The band is also working on a concept EP that’s been in development for five years, a cautionary tale about addiction wrapped in a love letter to Arizona’s creative community. It involves animated music videos, character vocalists, extended comic book lore, and a release show that’ll include instrument raffles and theatrical elements. It’s the kind of project that takes 100 local creatives to pull off, and it’s all building toward a show that’ll rival anything Marloma’s done before.

What started as writing alone in a room, perfecting every detail before anyone could hear it, has turned into something bigger than one person could have created. Each band member brings something different. John’s Punk-Rock guitar, Kalleigh’s Country-influenced bass lines, Angelita’s Latin and R&B drumming, all mixing with alternative-pop sensibility into something that doesn’t fit neatly into any single genre. It’s a “total genre melting pot,” and it works. It’s what happens when you stop trying to control everything and let other people’s strengths shape the sound. The songs that come out of that process, the ones with the happy accidents left in, those are the ones that end up connecting.

Marloma’s music is available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and SoundCloud. For more information, visit marloma.org and follow the band on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Upcoming show dates are available on Bandsintown.