Bearing in mind his CV includes graduation from Columbia Journalism School and some success as a playwright, it's no great surprise when adjectives such as 'erudite' are used to describe earnest New York City-based singer/ songwriter STEVEN MARK.
Mark began to make an impression with his debut 'Distraction (2004) and its' follow-up, 2005's 'Aloneaphobe' caught W&H's attention with its' accomplished songs of love and (especially) loss, when Mark embarked on emotional blooodletting of some quality following the spectacular demise of a previous relationship.
New (and apparently not difficult musically) third album 'Racing Grey' again finds Mark doing what he does best: venting spleen lyrically, but allying the invective with memorable choruses and decent, sway-worthy tunes of a kind which would be favoured by fellow sensitive, but edgy songwriters such as Neil Finn or Dave Rave.
Desolate piano ballad 'I Never Saw You' once again invokes the ghosts of relationships past, but this time it's mostly the transitory nature of our impending mortality and the lack of substance filling our MySpace and X-Box-addled lives in the meantime which seems to be bugging this talented songsmith.
Big issues, sure, but - while little of 'Racing Grey' is exactly what you'd call upbeat lyrically - it doesn't mean Steven Mark and his cohorts have jettisoned the tunes either. Actually, Mark's cohorts are very much a part of this record, because his core group of Matt Wilcox (guitars, piano), Randy Lee (bass) and drummer Tony Graci ensure the album has more of a 'group identity than Mark's previous work. All three share prodcution duties and their accomplished, but never ostentatious contributions help shape this strong and consistent set of songs.
And, crucially, they add an urgency in places that perhaps was missing during some of 'Aloneaphobe'. Tracks like the anti-corporate 'Gods On High' and the excellent 'Our Sun Must Set' (actually a euology to Mark's late, lamented dog Luther, but with a much broader message) are strident and defiant, while the crunchy, anti-vacuous celebrity rant 'Paris Hilton Generation' ("living large in your self-intoxication/ laugh it up as we fall") steers a closer course to all-out rock'n'roll than Mark has ever risked before. It's hardly Kiss, but its' anthemically-inclined nature sits easier on Steven Mark than you might imagine and the title alone is one of the year's highlights.
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Elsewhere, Mark and co. wrap up moments of mid-life uncertainty in finely-wrought musical comfort blankets such as the Beatloid 'Take Your Place Now', the bittersweet romance of new single 'Forever Tonight' and the supreme "what if?" moment that constitutes opening tune 'Abingdon Square' which finds Mark surveying the real-life view from his West Village apartment and "standing in the middle of the road not taken". The vulnerablity displayed is tangible, as is the sense of loss emanating from the shimmering cover of Bacharach & David's 'Always Something There To Remind Me', which is a risky choice, but one Mark and his intrepid henchmen make with comfort to spare.
Arguably the one place they come unstuck is the lugubrious, over-long closing tune, 'The Mountain', which is initially eerie and sombre, but at seven minutes or so rather outstays its' welcome, even if its' target (organised religion) is entirely valid.
However, judicious use of the skip button can always be employed here and its' presence does little to distract 'Racing Grey' from showing its' true colours as a mature and affecting record which will slowburn its' way into your head and heart. Fine stuff.
www.stevenmarkmusic.com
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