Roark - Break Of Day
ARTIST.....: Roark
TITLE......: Break Of Day
LABEL......: Love Minus Zero
URL........: www.roarkmusic.com
RIP DATE...: Feb-13-2007
STORE DATE.: Feb-20-2007
GENRE......: Indie
QUALITY....: VBR / 44.1Hz / Joint-Stereo
SIZE.......: 66,8 MB
Track Listing:
01 - Never Felt So Lucky 04:19
02 - Into Pieces 03:20
03 - Movin' On 04:49
04 - Today (Perfect) 04:03
05 - Letters 03:07
06 - Brighter Side 03:55
07 - Broken Smile 05:58
08 - Song From The TV 04:05
09 - All Of The Riches 03:26
10 - Ask Myself 04:13
11 - Take It Slow 04:00
─────
45:15 min
Release Notes:
More Valentine's Day Baby Makin' Music.
He isn't sure who said it, but Roark likes to quote the critic who
noted there really are only a few subjects artists tend to
explore. "Love, death, fear" says the singer/songwriter. "You can
always tie everything back to these fundamental things. I strive
to do it my own way." And what is Roark's way? With his pitch
perfect tenor and instinct for pure melody, Roark delves into
those suspended, transitory moments between people. Roark is for
fans of John Mayer, Damien Rice, James Blunt and Chris Martin.
And though he's too modest to say so, with his new album, Break Of
Day, Roark just might usher in a new era of pop music that
matters.
It is a solo album, but Roark didn't make Break Of Day alone.
Chris Badami served as producer, engineer and û for old time's
sake û drummer (they were band mates in the New Jersey-based
Casual Blue). The pair teamed up at Badami's Portrait Recording
Studios in Lincoln Park, NJ, to make the CD. It was invaluable
having Chris, says Roark. We're great friends to begin with, and
having a great personal relationship was a solid foundation for a
great musical relationship.
Break Of Day kicks off with the buoyant Never Felt So Lucky, based
on a train ride through the Italian countryside. I typically
write sad songs, says Roark, but I made a conscious effort to have
some joyful songs on this record. The sarcastic funk of Into
Pieces contrasts with gospel-flavored soul of Movin' On, Roark's
take on a break-up song. This was pulled from the best of my
break-ups, he says.
Ballads like Perfect (Today) and Broken Smile, with their
bittersweet acoustic flourishes, highlight Roark's burnished
songwriting skills. But he can rock, too, as he shows on Brighter
Side, Song from T.V., and the Queen-like Letters, an ingenious
song told from the perspective of two letter-writers through the
mail.
Showing a poet's feel for skewed perspective, in All of the
Riches, Roark takes on the persona of a just-deceased man
reflecting on a life just ended (It's a final resting place/At a
quite unusual time/There's a smile upon my face/Like it's born of
red wine). Says Roark, For some reason I'm obsessed with my own
death. You can get caught up in it, wondering what you learn at
that last moment.
He ends the album with Take It Slow, an intimate acoustic-flavored
song with a meter that lives up to its title yet still moves with
inevitable propulsion. It's an artful metaphor for Roark himself,
a musician with a restless heart always a beat ahead of the world
around him.
A native of Pompton Plains, NJ (about 30 miles from Manhattan),
Roark grew up enamored of a wide variety of popular music, from
James Taylor to Kurt Cobain to Toad the Wet Sprocket. I was born
to be a musician, he says. I always loved singing, theater, even
Italian opera. My parents were shocked when I didn't go to music
school.
I worked for a Fortune 500 company, he says. It was terrible. I'd
rather be a struggling musician. Thanks to his friendship with
Chris Badami and Ace Enders of The Early November, he was able to
showcase for Love Minus Zero Recordings in 2005. It wasn't long
before he clinched a solo deal (the first artist signed to the LMZ
label) and the making of Break Of Day was underway.
As a songwriter, Roark subscribes to the approach of poet Robert
Frost, who once described his art as ôfreedom in harness. Says
Roark, Most every lyric I write has to rhyme. I need the
restraint; otherwise there are too many ways to say things. Also,
a lot of my guitar playing is rhythmic in nature. I'll never be a
shredder, ripping out crazy solos.
No one is likely to miss that once Break Of Day reaches fans. It's
a testament to Roark that he skirts the boundary lines of
contemporary pop while remaining true to the singer/songwriter
tradition that inspires him. He will no doubt inspire many in the
months and years to come.
I made the songs I heard, he says of the new album, and I gave it
my best effort. I hope it will connect with people, because
everything came from the heart.