Marc White – “Rise”
Marc White’s opening single “Rise” from his first album Parallel Life announces the arrival of a major new singing and songwriting talent. Much of the credit for the birth of this release surely lands on the feet of White, its prime artistic mover, but producer Jeff Grenier deserves credit as well for encouraging the needed confidence in White to pull off this release. White’s longstanding anxiety about recording his songs had been an obstacle for him over many years, but White’s extra effort to overcome that arbitrary restriction is a hallmark of a personal story about an artist in the making who has passed through a number of trials on his way to this first album. Marc White’s “Rise” sets him apart as a major talent in the offing with the added intelligence to surround himself with quality collaborators. This penchant will likely serve in good stead for years to come.
The guitar work on “Rise” and how it dovetails into his vocal is a critical factor in making this release come off so well. There’s some tasteful acoustic guitar running underneath, but it’s the electric guitar that sparks everything to brighter life and changes approaches between spartan fill-oriented accompaniment through the verses that explodes during the choruses and for some tasty instrumental breaks. It’s accompanied by a terrific rhythm section performance driving everything and giving White and his musical collaborators a solid foundation to extemporize from. The songwriting is aided, in no small part, by a strong and dramatic arrangement that never overcomplicates things – instead, the same directness personified in his vocal style comes across, as well, through his musical instincts. Everything neatly segues from one section to another and never overreaches its mandate. “Rise” runs just over four minutes, but it’s structured in a way that makes the time go by and leaves you wanting more by the track’s conclusion.
Grenier’s most obvious effect on the song can be heard in White’s vocal. He has a nearly flawless approach to moving from the simmering verses into the full on heart-rendering vocal of the choruses and there’s an obvious emotional investment in what he does. He has a steady, ever present sense of where the song is going musically and augments his performance to run side by side with the accompaniment rather than coming down too heavy handed. It adds a further overall sense of unity and coherence to the song as everything seems to purr along at the same temperament rather than jarring, discordant elements marring the experience. It’s a lyrically astute tune, another indication of how White continued striving to perfect his craft in the years before this first recording, and it’s evident based on this song alone that White has committed these tracks to recording with a clear idea of what he wanted to say. The ultimate effect is quite impressive. Marc White’s “Rise” meets all of your expectations and more without ever sound overly familiar. It’s an excellent taste of what’s to come from Parallel Life.
MP3RED: http://mp3red.cc/39108624/marc-white-life-can-change-in-a-heart-beat.html
Mindy McCall
