The album that took 50 years to make
Mike Marlin cites Johnny Cash as one of his influences, amongst others, and listening to Man on the Ground makes it particularly easy to tell. While Mike's first record took him supposedly 50 years to create – although we're guessing that perhaps the 50-year-old singer-songwriter hadn't exactly been working on it since the day he was born – the follow up took him only twelve months. Surprisingly, it doesn't sound rushed in the slightest but falls perfectly into place, leaving the impression that perhaps Mike as it his best under slightly more pressure.
Man on the Ground is the record that Mike has been waiting to make, and it's not a happy record. That's not to say that it's unhappy, per se, just raw and honest. Luckily, the songs never veer into an uncomfortable extent of personal, and it's not as difficult to listen to as it could be – though it should be advised against if you're already in a dark mood.
Even the most upbeat song on the record, Girl From Chelsea Bridge, has more than a hint of something bittersweet running through it. It still lifts the second half of the record up into a more optimistic tone, particularly as opposed to the downhearted melancholy of the first.
Steve McQueen is the stand out track by far, a slow build of emotion and the ever plodding drum beat in the background as the song never quite reaches a climax, always falling short and managing to perfectly encapsulate the sense of loss that Mike strives so hard to share with us.
The only down side can sometimes be the atmosphere becoming a mite too slow – lovely duet Travel The Worldis a drawn out ballad with Mike and Eleanor McEvoy both drawling out a plea that they no longer want to travel the world, begging to stay in just one place. The song does, at times, feel like it might almost slow to a complete halt – it's not asking for a pick me up, just a slightly more constant feeling of, well – travel.
"It's going to be different this time," Mike insists, in This Town, one of the more upbeat tracks. More records like this wouldn't be so bad, either.