Adam Marsland

I’ve never heard of Adam Marsland or his previous band, Cockeyed Ghost, before now so I’m in no position to judge whether or not the 20 tracks on this album are really better than any other song he has written but they are good songs. A quote on the back of the album describes him as “an amalgam of Joe Jackson, Ben Folds and Billy Joel…then add in Matthew Sweet at his peak.” That is to say he is a singer/songwriter that plays the piano and a power-pop electric guitar while writing lyrics that are intelligent, heartfelt, and, at times, funny. In the end that’s just what he is. His songs are catchy and poppy with a hint of soul and more than a little tribute to Dennis and Carl Wilson. There is nothing here that breaks new ground but it is a good listen nonetheless.

The lyrics to all of the songs are printed on the CD insert along with pictures from various stages of his career. This was a smart move on his part as his lyrics are what differentiate him and are better appreciated when read as opposed to merely heard. Largely his songs are standard singer/songwriter fare: autobiography of a musician, love and love lost, someone’s suicide, appreciation of the small moments in life, and fictional stories served in four minute slices. His real creativity shines through in clever twists of phrase in lines like, “disoriented euthanasian/ the only race she knows,” or, “I commit the perfect rhyme.” Of course, any body that rhymes “raison d’etre” with “etcetera, etcetera,” shows that they have at least a little bit of an intelligent sense of humor.

Perhaps retrospective would be a better way of describing this album as together the songs tell a story of reflecting on a life lived, with all of its challenges and triumphs. He is a musician who looks back on his hopes of being a rock star and the disappointment of seeing that dream shattered when his record label tanks. He is an artist who decides that the music is what matters, spending three years in his car performing every night developing his craft. Adam says of that time, “When I left I was trying, when I came back I was being.” Finally, he is a person realizing that the connections and relationships that we make in life, whether romantic or platonic, are the things that really matter. In the song “Ginna Ling” he tells the story of someone he met and barely knew who committed suicide. In his words, “This is a song for someone I barely knew/ Someone I guess it’s strange for me to miss or mourn…But sometimes I have this crazy dream/ I break down the door and yank out the keys/ Drag her out of the car and scream/ ’Ginna someone loves you.’” This is a man who has come to realize that connection and art are things of the heart, not the head. This is a man that has risked and lost and still is able to say, “I had food on the table and easy demons to fight, I wanna thank you for my kickass life.”

Daylight Kissing Night is an apt title as the songs occupy a space where hopefulness meets despair, where living meets dreaming, and where light meets darkness. After years of toil in obscurity, Adam Marsland is garnering more recognition and continues to make music that, while not exactly ground-breaking is definitely fun to listen to. In an effort to broaden his fan base he is selling this album on Amazon for an amazing $6. If that’s not a reason to explore a new yet old artist, I’m not sure what is.

Highlight Track: “My Kickass Life”

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