A man and his guitar – some may argue, is all you need to make a jam. For Florida native Mark Richards, his guitar and his secret weapon (his astral voice), is more than enough. In his latest single "ANGEL," Richards performs an emotionally charged vocal performance on top of a downtempo drum pattern, and a smooth acoustic guitar riff. The slight rasp in Richards' trills strike a chord, giving me that instant feeling of hearing something special on the first listen. A clever songwriter, Richards sings in the chorus,

"I thought I fell in love with an angel,

I thought she could change me

A moment ago, you

told me you hate me."

Let's not forget Mark shows some diversity with his Hip Hop / R&B inspired verses, revealing different cadences and melodic flows. There is genuine soul injected into this track, and the replay value is all-too-high to neglect. I feel lucky to be listening to Richards at such an early stage, because there is definitely something here. With only two songs out right now, Richards is sure to continue to develop his sound and build his audience in the coming months and years. I look forward to new music from him, hopefully soon.

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