Mark Peters - Spirits EP (Audio Heart)

Mark Peters is a musician from London who went solo after a number years spent in the band Seven Breaths, and his new EP Spirits presents some of his most accomplished and self-assured music yet. The lead single “24 Years” is a song that Peters began 15 years ago while he was still in university, and it’s obvious that the return to it has been a labor of love for the artist. Consequently, there’s a larger sense of maturity surrounding the other tracks like the gently emotional “Move Me,” but there’s also a special vitality to “24 Years” which still remains from his younger years.

Nick Drake is a clear influence to his sound, but only in a superficial sense because Peters’ style of lyricism is quintessentially his own. His guitar playing is also on display as much as his singing, and he proves to be a deft touch with both. The EP closer and title track “Spirits” is perhaps the best example of this powerful combination as he projects a raw vulnerability matched by an intensity of building instrumentation. Stylistically both folksy and jazzy, while Peters’ lyrics are honest and stripped of unnecessary adornments, Spirits is an EP which will attract a wide array of listeners.