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Mark Geary
Opium
sonaBlast!
"I'm here inside/I'm wrapped too tight," sings Mark Geary on his new album Opium. The Irish singer/songwriter may be stressed out, but this lyrical admission aside, Geary is as cool as they come in his compositions, singing each number with poise and finesse. After leaving Dublin in the early nineties, Geary landed in New York where he hung out at his brother's bar (the now legendary Café' Sin-e) and started playing with Jeff Buckley. The apprenticeship served him well—although he lacks Buckley's staggering range (who doesn't?), Geary sings with soulful, poetic precision, making each of the eleven compositions on Opium a separately stirring experience. Channeling everyone from the Waterboys' Mike Scott to Paul Simon, Geary knows his way around a pop song: from the sensual ("Not On Your Life") to the spare ("Cold Little Fire"), Geary knows just when to rock and just when to sway. "Facin' The Fall" is an affecting and downright lovely duet with guitarist Ann Scott; "See-Saw (Houpaka)" is hauntingly percussive, while "The King Of Swords" has all the elegant touch of Simon and Garfunkel. Lovely.
—Alex Green
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