“Under The Sun” by Mark Pritchard

Final Rating: 6.5/10

Mark Pritchard’s most recent release “Under The Sun” is a psychedelic, and spacious sounding album. The tracks all have a similar type of smooth sound to them. This is a very electronic based album, rather than a more persistent use of instrumentals. Of course there are instrumentals featured however, this is mainly electronic.

This psychedelic sound is very unique to most psychedelic and electronic tracks. The album really has its own place and almost an atmosphere to it, it’s really like nothing I have heard before – I’m not sure what I would even compare it to because it is quite unique. This is definitely an album to sit down and listen to straight through to, and it is very simple to get lost in. With constant smooth synthesization and spacey sound effects, listeners will find themselves zoning out into the music. Because this is such a unique sounding album, this definitely is not for all listeners. Personally, this isn’t my type of album because I think it is for a very preferred ear however, there is still a strong appreciation in tact for this unique sound and ability to take a listeners mind away from reality.  

? was a very nice way to begin this album, as it gives the listener a true look at what this album will contain. It really sets the vibe and tone of the album, as it smoothly transitions into Give It To Your Choir featuring Bibio. This track featured sounds from the prior track ? as well as some attractive vocal overlapping and delays within the overlapping. With this being said, I wish that Falling could have contained some more defined vocals. It was very difficult to make out what exactly was being said, and perhaps almost completely easy to miss unless you are listening very closely. The outro was also far too over extended.

As Beautiful People featuring Thom Yorke is one of the most popular out of his songs on Spotify right now, I had some high expectations. I was disappointed by this track, the flute was not an attractive asset to this song at all. I had a thought that perhaps this would just be a part of the introduction however, it unfortunately continued throughout the entire song. Then again, this sound could be attractive to other listeners. The flute was far too over-powering and distracting.

There were many tracks with no vocals, which were a nice addition to the album however, only Hi Red stood out to me out of these tracks because it was the only one that truly differentiated from the others. It is good that the tracks all had a similar sound as they were able to flow together but there was nothing that particularly caught my ear.

The strongest track on this album is The Blinds Cage featuring Beans. This track has a monologue consistent throughout, with such a strong voice. The tune creates a cool vision, and it is easy for listeners to visualize what he is saying as he is very stern and confident; he grabs your attention, and keeps it throughout. Paired along perfectly with this track is the electronics in the background again, creating a visual atmosphere.

Overall this album has a nice flow and is most definitely relaxing but, it is for a very specific ear.