Paul Mark

Paul Mark, as a songwriter and musician, clearly swears his loyalty to another time and place. The eleven originals, one cover, and one instrumental making up the track listing for his eleventh album Gravity balances the line between traditional music, albeit with a theatrical edge, and modern sonic strengths. There may be deep roots bringing these performances to life, but Mark doesn’t make any attempt to shape these songs in such a way they have absolute fidelity to the past. They come through the speakers with the immediacy you want from material like this. His piano playing is the musical center of the collection, but Mark’s musical palette is wider than just piano-driven tracks. There’s ample guitar, an expansive variety of musical influences working through the track, and he takes several different rewarding vocal approaches. 

 PRIMARY URL: https://music.paulmark.com/album/gravity 

“Gravity is Falling” finds him in street prophet mode. Mark gears the track towards pure performance rather than a heart-rendering exercise, but it is nonetheless entertaining from beginning to end. There’s a screwy funhouse feel to the way Mark develops the song’s sound and his ability to keep it entertaining without ever laying it on too thick makes him stand out from the pack. “The Next Fight” puts the spotlight on Mark’s guitar playing talents. His clear talent for invoking the blues that hits a tortured emotional pitch and his writing talents conjure up the punishing day-in-day-out life of a boxer. The beautiful thing, however, about his lyrics is they have a wide range of application. His pugilistic imagery never stands in the way of taking this song in various ways.

I believe Mark dredged “Friend Gone Astray” up from the blood, sweat, and tears of a life well lived. If I am wrong and the lyrics are a purely imaginative exercise unrelated to Mark’s life, it’s a commanding artistic exercise showing, without a doubt, that Mark’s skills are near or at full flower. These are flesh and blood experiences tailored to fit a fully realized musical arrangement distinguished by lyrical piano playing. The dramatic narrative of “OTB” is an excellent example of the urban vision filling out many of Mark’s songs. Some might hear this sort of performance piece as harboring too much pretension, but close listening to this track reveals muscular storytelling that doesn’t waste listener’s time. His talents as a writer and songwriter sharpen everything to a fine point. 

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I enjoyed the unlikely cover of “Heart Full of Soul” far more than I thought I might. Mark breathes new life into this classic Yardbirds gem while stamping it with a personal quality that makes it more than just skillful mimicry. His guitar sound on this track has a signature touch while remaining true to the song’s origins. “December at the P.O.” blends literary influences into Gravity’s artistic stew. They are low-key but nonetheless envelop the closing track with an additional dimension deepening its emotion. He has immense soulfulness as a singer obvious at various points during the release and it reaches a satisfying conclusion with this track. Gravity will check every box for a lot of listeners. It is a piercing introduction for newcomers to Paul Mark’s work and a reaffirmation for his longtime fans.

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Trace Whittaker

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

7/2020