With over two millennia worth of songwriters to stack up against, to say it isn’t easy to make a fun, original Gospel album might just be the understatement of the year.
Nevertheless, Mark D. Conklin has managed to deliver a uniquely melodic collection of songs that are fit for a world desperately in need of getting in touch with its Higher Power in his new album The Gospel According to Mark. In twelve sumptuously produced songs presented beside twelve spoken word passages from the Book of Mark, Conklin covers a significant amount of ground, but one theme remains the same from start to finish; there are only two paths you can choose in this life, love or hate, and love is always the right choice.
URL: markdconklin.com/
Mark D. Conklin might be a relatively new face to the pop community, but he doesn’t have a hard time meshing in with his various collaborators in this record like a seasoned veteran of the stage and studio. His voice blends into the instrumentation like it belongs singing these melodies, but his presence doesn’t become subjective to the collective he’s embracing. Conklin commands the group in songs like “Good News” and the eponymous “Make Way,” and he is clearly at his most comfortable when he’s got the microphone firmly in his grasp.
There’s a little taste of everything in The Gospel According to Mark to satisfy fans of almost every musical taste. There’s humility (“Into the River”), consideration (“Devil in the Temple”), and even a little blunt emotion (“Make Way”), and even though that might sound like a strange group of elements to find on a non-mixtape LP, you’ve got to listen to their arrangement for yourself to be able to appreciate just how ingeniously well they fit in together. I was taken aback by how polished this record is from beginning to end.
Mark D. Conklin
Listen to Mark D. Conklin on Spotify. Artist · 7K monthly listeners.
I think this record has remarkable crossover appeal to audiences that go well beyond the typical Christian market. There’s been a significant lull in output among CCM artists in the last decade, and this could be a nice addition to a catalog that was leaving an awful lot to be desired. Overall I don’t even know how I would label Mark D. Conklin if you pressed me to assign him some sort of moniker. While he is indeed a gospel artist, to limit him to such a fragmented portion of pop music seems a little disrespectful considering his amazing talent.
If you’re looking for music this year that makes you feel good about being alive and a member of the human race, Mark D. Conklin is just the man that you need to see. The Gospel According to Mark isn’t a fancy pop record will all the bells and whistles of a big-dollar recording budget, but it does contain some of the kindest lyricism and elegant melodies you’re going to find on any album in any genre. I applaud Conklin’s passion for his craft and I hope this isn’t the last chance I have to review his work.
Clay Burton