Mark Maze
Uncomfortable Truths
(self-released)

London-based Mark Maze’s Uncomfortable Truths is a pure pop, semi-R&B collection.

“The Devil May Cry” is the first of nine. It’s a big, expansive piano piece with Mark’s slightly over-dramatic, yet pretty  vocals, bearing his beating heart. Then the beat starts and we go a’twirling in Madonna/William Orbit territory; it’s a fun, big opening dance-of-a-number. I like the distorted guitar and the rap-like singing and snap beat to “Get Gone.” The chorus here is boy band-friendly with harmony vocals and everything thrown at the sing-a-long.

“Your Bite Was Beautiful” again gets us to that overly expressive Maze vocal that I wish could be a little controlled so as not to seem like he’s trying so hard. The choruses are, as we expect, big, stompy, and again more than a little of boy-band ilk. The programmed drums here are kind of cool, the blipping keys work well in the chorus….and again, the harmonies are solid, Maze can sing for sure. Again, we get a good, muted electric guitar, this time on a Michael Jackson sound-alike (but one of the better tunes here), “Get Ya Back Up.” Piano and Maze end the album with “What Are We Fighting For.”

Let’s face it, Maze is not really mining any other lyrical subjects than love and the tunes kick-in with drum programming and the expected commercial choruses. But this young singer/songwriter has a good voice and he writes solid (if not the same sounding) songs.

You can listen to the album here.