Mark Prendergast’s Man Alive project and debut EP ‘Colours’ presented a very different side to an artist best known for his international success with Kodaline – in the words of Clash “something more tender, more personal, and openly emotive.” Now Man Alive shares the new single ‘Miles Away’ together with a video written and directed by his friend Aisling Bea as he prepares to release his second EP ‘Hiding’ this summer. Listen HERE.
Drifting like a mid-afternoon daydream, ‘Miles Away’ possesses the intimacy and DIY vibe of the current bedroom indie-pop scene with a kinship to the songcraft and laid-back grooves of ‘80s sophistic-pop. The song’s atmosphere casts a warm, comforting presence but there’s a darker edge to the lyrics. At first it feels like a postcard of the kind of day we all occasionally need to decompress and rediscover our spark. But by the end it feels like the experience of someone who is becoming swamped by their worries and insecurities: “Hiding from my neighbour, hiding from my ex-girlfriend, hiding from the real things.”
Mark says, “‘Miles Away’ is a song I wrote during some down time where I was by myself quite a lot. I got pretty comfortable with the idea of doing nothing and seeing nobody. I gravitated towards the couch and didn’t see a way out for a while. I was happy being still. Eventually I did have to get off the couch and go record the song.”
As ‘Miles Away’ indicates, Man Alive’s upcoming EP ‘Hiding’ takes a more naturalistic approach to the production than we heard on the intricately layered ‘Colours’ with Mark performing almost all of its instrumentation himself. Feeling like a thematic sequel to the previous EP, Its lyrics are more introspective too, as he dares to expose the thoughts and internal dialogue that’s otherwise locked away from public consumption.
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