First published by Liverpool Acoustic on April 5th 2014.

Rating 9/10

Some performers ooze class without even having to play a cord or a single note. Of course when they do put together the start of a new song that you just know is going to capture the imagination and playful tug at the heart strings the only decent thing to do, the only courteous action to take is to wallow in the core of something either incredible or beautiful or…if you are really fortunate, both.

Mark One by Mark Pountney is one such album. The recording of nine really stunning tracks in which the energy and sophistication of a soul possessed by forethought and ability is one in which to savour. The acoustic equivalent of watching and cheering on the first person to cross the Niagara Falls on a rope and seeing them balance with ingenuity and surefootedness, you can’t help but stunned in appreciation and applaud with great ferocity at the end result.

Each track is carefully crafted, poured over in the way that an early Bob Dylan would have done, the fine toothcomb, made from the premium materials known to humanity and yet loved as if produced from the over cuddled remains of much loved childhood toy, could not have made the songs sound richer and more in keeping with the man if he had tried.

On this, the first of his albums to showcase his original material, Mark Pountney digs deep and yields some very cool tracks for consideration. Like listening to Mr. John O’ Connell, the richness of his voice is matched by the sheer effortlessness of his playing and it shows on tracks such as Treat Me Like You Should, the superb Angels Travel On Lonely Roads, the exceptional imagery in Minnie The Mouse and the seclusion and desperate longing in Last Chance Saloon to wonderful extent.

If this is the first of his albums to see the light of day then Mark One is a tremendous way in which to start. A great find, a talented musician and wordsmith and one who frames the eagerness of appreciation in a new and hallowed way.

Ian D. Hall