Martin Grech - The Heritage (Martin Grech Songs)
4/5
By: Christiana Spens
After previously releasing two albums through major labels, Martin Grech has taken the boldly independent step of cutting ties with those labels in pursuit of creative freedom, and now releases the first track from his imminently-released record, 'March of the Lonely', on his own label, Martin Grech Songs.
In 'The Heritage', that jaded sense of freedom is apparent. It is a folk song bearing all the characteristic scars of a life lived in contemplation of those profundities stirring beneath the surf of the human consciousness - vice, regret, pain, defiance, fear, fortitude - with the heavy drawling of acceptance in spite of it all. "Every man must learn to love his demons, that demon's name is yours..."
His voice keeps digging at melancholia like the-grave-digger in Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', an edge of comedy brushed round a pit of bleak confusion. There is a beat that is ceaseless as oars of a boat beating the ocean and a shovel cutting into the soil of a cemetery. I feel we capture Martin Grech on a sort of burial - of demons - and a kind of journey - made in a last grasp at personal freedom. 'Ashes over Embers', the second track on his single, with slower melancholia, could be the walk away from the burial. "I will always remember you," and the subtle and yet constant strumming of guitar, strikes a depth of honesty and earthiness that is rare to find.
He reminds me, in his assured yet melancholic sounds, of Dylan, Neil Young's 'The Needle and the Damage Done', and Elliot Smith's many tunes of malcontent. There is such clarity in 'The Heritage', the sound cuts clearly to the listener without any of the pretence so often blown into the soundscape by other musicians, and such maturity in his lyrics and presence, that Martin Grech stands out as a spark of luminous clarity in an otherwise overcast sky.
Stream 'The Heritage' HERE.
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