Mark Rose: The Wild Type

Artist: Mark Rose
Title: The Wild Type
Format Reviewed: MP3
Format Released: September 25th 2015
Reviewed By: Rania M M Watts 

I was really nervous when I started to take notes for this review, simply because this body of work offers so much. Right from the little nuances, lyrics and overall balance of how these pieces organically flow from one to the other, this is an impressive collection of songs from Mark Rose.

The instrumental intro in Well & Diet took hold of me, then once I heard Mark's voice I almost forgot about it. Even as I listen now, Well & Diet is on repeat (you are going to find me pin-pointing that a lot! The track utilises the synth sound which can be found throughout the album in its entirety, and is something I really enjoyed. Simply unforgettable frenetic goodness. 

Have you ever heard Jesus Jones' Right Here, Right Now? The energy in Better Half is similar to that: mainly the sound in the percussion. With an alternating dump beat during the middle, the songs are powerfully played and provided me once again another section that I had to keep rewinding. I kept getting lost in the music. This EP is quite distracting to review: all I wanted to do was listen. Specifically right at around the bridge, there is a steady bass drum beat accompanied with very enunciated lyrics “find your way, get back on track” with an slow yet intense crescendo scale that never seems to plateau.  

Another track that stood out was Phone Call From Chicago: I had to stop and start it a number of times, as it really has the potential to knock someone back into their days of old. This song is far from mellow, a characteristic I savoured, as I felt the fast paced meter paired perfectly with the urgency in the lyrics.  

As you can see, I rewound many of the songs from The Wild Type, I just couldn't help it... there were new details that kept popping out. The small nuances here really contribute to that added extra layer of depth. 

I read a quote from Mark Rose where he stated "My stride on this album is a bit dark and haunting, but hopefully in an alluring way..." It is the darkness that I found to be really compelling, as this album really did and does go there... Life is not perfect, never has been, the way Mark put himself out there with these intimate lyrics which, I found to be very relatable...  

As you can tell, I loved the time I spent with The Wild Type. It was quite difficult to put my headphones down in order to properly edit my review, as I really did not want to put stop listening.  

And, by the way, that is not me being nice... I've literally not listened to any other music since receiving The Wild Type in my inbox.