High Water Line
Self-Released, 2019
8/10
Mark Oblinger has spent his entire accomplished career just to the side of the spotlight, acting as a touring musician, producer and songwriter. Here, with High Water Line, the veteran artist is front and center on a dozen tunes that are brimming with adult pop and rock ideas that are always cautious and sometimes even intimate.
The title track starts the listen with a calm, warm setting of elegance and organic musicianship, and “Judgment Road” follows with a firm Americana angle with plenty of rhythm and groove.
Near the middle, “Little Bird” brings us into upbeat, hand clapping, harmonica fun on a bluesy tune, while “I Say Love” steers the record into ballad territory, with a sophisticated, cultured and hushed highlight.
Deeper cuts offer us the melodic folk-rock of “Poet In The Corner”, the lush and agile “Hold Me Tonight”, and the album closer, “Love Is”, where keys take focus on the expressive and romantic exit.
It’s no surprise that Oblinger has 5 Emmys to his name; the troubadour delivers timeless sounds that are capable of reaching jam band status just as they are spare indie-folk. A fine debut this is, and certainly worth the wait.
Travels well with: Jackson Browne- Hold Out; Paul Simon- Graceland