REVIEW: The Mark — Wondrous (SINGLE)
When it comes to maintaining a sense of truth in your music, the world has never been less inviting. When anyone can create anything at any time on the supercomputer in their pockets, there’s never been a time more full of disingenuous cash grab attempts from music as there are now.
URL: https://themark2.bandzoogle.com/
Everyone is dead set on being the next TikTok trend so they can cash a cool million at the bank, and modern music is in dire straits as a direct result. When executives are more concerned with how a ten-second segment of a song can be meme’d into oblivion by next Tuesday, there’s certainly an understandable absence of wind in your sails when it comes to being an aspiring rock band — rock music just isn’t memeable, to the best of my knowledge, and the genre is taking a hit because of it.
You either live long enough to see yourself become a TikTok or die under the label dad-rock. Thankfully, there are still some bands out there not dissuaded enough by the State of Things and music is still being created in the indie spheres. Dutch rock band The Mark is one such group, and their latest single “Wondrous” is a magnificent testament to the power of classic rock in all its shapes and sizes.
Naming a single “Wondrous” feels like low-hanging fruit in the sense that we can all just call it wondrous (because it is) and pack up before calling it a day; featuring a lush arrangement of your typical rock instruments as well as synths and sax, however, there’s plenty to dissect within The Mark’s latest.
While arguably light on lyrics (the chorus is more concerned with showing off an incredible saxophone lick than clever wordplay), the song speaks through its composition more than anything else. The emotions burst from every song of “Wondrous” and the tasteful synth flourishes complement the band’s use of piano in the quieter sections of the song’s verses. The tightrope act of going from a soft verse to an arena-sized, anthem-pounding bridge and chorus is not something most bands could pull off but The Mark isn’t sweating. “Wondrous” is everything the song says it is on the tin, and the band doesn’t want you to worry about it.
The Mark won’t be getting any hits on TikTok from their immaculate hit “Wondrous,” but when the right ears stumble across this beautifully bittersweet love track, TikTok won’t matter. Modern tracks can transcend the need for memes and social media when the emotions hit correctly, and The Mark is right on the mark with this one — when a song packs a hard enough punch, nothing else matters for the remainder of that track’s runtime. It’s an impressive single to come flying out of the gate with, one that boldly writes its name in the sand. The Mark is doing great work with “Wondrous.” The single hits streaming services on September 3rd along with a music video to accompany its release; color me eager to see how the visuals go with the song!
Colin Jordan
