Mark Houston shares his instrumentally diverse debut album, "The Coast"
As if we haven’t loved everything else Mark Houston has put out over the past year, he’s gone above and beyond on his complete album release, The Coast. Read on for our in-depth analysis of the record., as well as a refresher on one of our favorite emerging artists.
Spokane, Washington-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has been consistent as ever during 2021 with legitimate hit after hit. Jam packed with complex instrumentation, imagery-filled lyricism, and organic soundscapes, we have to confidently say that The Coast is a top tier album that we’ve heard not just from Mark, but in the entirety of this whole year. You’d be doing yourselves a serious disservice if you didn’t listen.
Recorded, mixed, and mastered at Amplified Wax Recording by Jimmy Hill (Tech N9ne, Joe Bonamassa), Mark Houston enlisted a literal team of experts to help put together this album. It features Luke Westermeyer (Jacklando) on drums and percussion, Sooyoun Park on vocals and violin, among many others who have cultivated something entirely original and special here. Even better for those who happen to be located in the Pacific Northwest, Mark has assembled a 5-piece live band and plans to tour during October and November!
While we’re located in Los Angeles, we may just have to make a trip to witness the greatness. Back to the album though, you can fully expect a cohesive listening experience that conveys personal experiences from the musician. Our first introduction to Mark Houston was back in February when we covered “The Way It Goes”, and since then it’s been counting the days down until the full album release. So many singles were released during the build up, and we thank him for that, but the entire album experience is like nothing we could’ve expected.
As far as genre goes, we confidently feel that Mark Houston has broken the mold of everything that could be labeled “indie rock”. Sure, it’s definitely rock and roll focused, but at points it wandered into folk, experimental, and classic acoustic singer songwriter-type tracks. With that being said though, it never once felt jumbled up in sound or all over the place in tone. It’s almost difficult to explain in a sense, which is why we’re going to recommend yet again you dive in immediately.
Picking a standalone favorite track would be an impossible task and an eventual argument, so we’re going to stray away from that and just tell you to start at the beginning on “Open Up The Pages”. That track alone is enough to keep any listener’s interest piqued for the entirety of the album run, seriously. Sure, there were standouts, but the record is really just best listened through from start to finish.
Now is about the time we’re going to point you in the direction of the links below where you can listen, buy merch, and follow along with Mark Houston. We sincerely hope you love it as much as we did!
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