With his latest album, Whatever Gods, about to drop, Marcus Anthony Mack gives us a timely and seductive taste of what to expect with his new single, “Unconquerable Soul.” It is a gorgeous sonic experience, one built on understatement and otherworldliness, restraint and emotion.
With only the gentlest of piano notes chiming out in the background, he adds his voice, which here is rendered into ethereal vocals, more voice-as-an-instrument than the conventional lyrical communication but certainly no less effective and euphoric.
With the exception of the spacious and hypnotically repetitive piano line, the remaining sonics – ambient synths and drifting sounds, string washes, and
Rising tensions coalesce into a mesh of cinematic grace, creating a more post-classical soundscape than merely a song, more a primal echo than modern entertainment.
With the music designed more for an emotive than logical response and the title the only indication of the artist’s intentions, this becomes a song open to interpretation. Still, its depth and resonance make it clear that this music is to be absorbed by some sort of spiritual osmosis rather than merely understood in the conventional sense.
But shouldn’t all music affect you in such a way? Does music have to be logical and understood? Does it have to deliver absolutes and explain precisely what it means? Play “Unconquerable Soul” a few times, and you will instantly feel better; the great thing is, you won’t be able to explain why.
That’s the power of music at its finest.
