After releasing ‘Be Someone’ and ‘Colours’, Mark Prendergast’s Man Alive project has showcased a very different side to his talents away from the chart-topping, arena-filling success of Kodaline. Now he completes the introduction of Man Alive by releasing the debut EP ‘Colours’ alongside a video for the new song ‘What Are The Chances’. Listen HERE. Watch the official video HERE.
On ‘What Are The Chances’, Mark captures the late night torment of wondering if there’s any hope of salvaging a relationship after a break-up. While past mistakes are acknowledged, he eventually accepts that rekindling the romance might be an idea that’s doomed to fail as he laments, “I’d like to think I’d do things better, I’ll probably end up doing the same.” Musically, the song embarks upon a similar journey of discovery, building from acoustic guitar into a rich finale full of dramatic beats, plaintive piano and beautifully ethereal vocal harmonies. Mark wrote the song with James Vincent McMorrow and Ciaran Warren.
Two other new songs complete the ‘Colours’ EP. The postcard intimacy of ‘Five Minute Drive’ offers “a place to park your broken heart” while ‘Everytime I See Red’, possesses a similar warmth, all richly textured vocal harmonies and dreamy acoustic pop. Collectively the EP sees Mark relishing breaking rules and challenging expectations by switching up sounds from raw introspection to maximalist production, all alongside lyrics which span a spectrum of emotions.
Mark says, “Some songs are about going through a really shitty time, and there are some about wanting to sit around the house, and just not have to deal with real life. Like everybody else in this world, you go through moments where you’re fucking great and you go through moments where you’re not. I suppose each song is just about a different kind of emotion, and that discovery of figuring out who you are and all that kind of craic.”
As Kodaline spent a decade touring the world and accumulating over 2 billion streams, Mark had always written his own songs in a style that didn’t fit the band but never had an outlet for them. And then lockdown hit, followed by a break-up, and Mark suddenly had infinite inspiration and all of the time needed to bring his own project to fruition. Even now he stated that he never aspired to be a singer, but the songs that he wrote were far too personal to pass over to someone else to perform. A key part of the process was about channelling his creativity in a different way. In Kodaline he has the strength that comes from being part of a gang, but Man Alive is entirely reliant on his talents.
Early in the project, Mark was in Los Angeles where he played an early version of ‘Be Someone’ to Aisling Bea. Not only did she love it, but she constantly encouraged him to stretch far beyond his comfort zone. She even had an input into the project name, after bluntly stating that its initial moniker, Blood Type, was “shit, and it just doesn’t match your music.” She has continued to back Man Alive ever since, first stepping up to host Mark’s launch party for the project, and recently declaring her love for ‘What Are The Chances’.
Since that launch party, Mark has played as Man Alive just three times: a sold-out London headline show at The Waiting Room; an acoustic Ruby Sessions performance in Dublin; and an informal pop-up in Kuala Lumpur during the current Kodaline tour. He’s open minded as to what comes next for Man Alive, but he already has an album’s worth of material prepped. For now, though, immerse yourself in the eclectic sonics and powerful emotions of the ‘Colours’ EP.
Watch the video for ‘What Are The Chances’ below:
