Immediately intriguing for the quickness of the keys, the haunting energy of this intimate, piano-led delivery, and the equally emotive and genuine nature of the leading voice – Adam Marino details the turmoil and ache of mental suffering throughout a powerfully honest and engaging Better.
Reaching way past the six-minute mark, Better proves to be something of an accessible pop song and a rather epic, immersive composition all at once. The voice and the lyrics, the stripped-back performance, lean towards the tender realness of the singer-songwriter realm. However, the structure, the back and forth between softness and intensity, the boldly expressive vocal meandering, all leans distinctly towards that of musical theatre and neo-classical exploration.
Somehow this balance makes sense here, it works beautifully as Marino makes his way through the full piece – without ever needing anything more than his keys, his voice, and these rising and falling thoughts and feelings.
An acoustic offering with a certain vastness and inherently human struggle about it, Better calls out to anyone who’ll listen – seeking an answer to that question so commonly running through a struggling mind; ‘Does it ever really get better?’
Far more captivating than this written description can ever truly communicate, Better is gorgeously melodic, passionately revealing, authentic in lyric and delivery, and introduces a fine artist and musician with a clear strength within and connection to the creative process.
Check out Adam Marino on IG & Twitter.
