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Sad tunes searching for what fills the hole in each of us.

Melancholy, defeated, afraid of change. Throughout his third album, soulful rocker Mark Geary faces head-on the uncertainties in a life full of sadness and song.
Opium focuses on Geary’s pursuits of a better day, and filling the emptiness inside of him with God, sex, religion or any other handy vice that seems to plug the void. He wants something better, but so far, he hasn’t found it. He struggles with why God appears to be at the center of everything.

This is rock of the slow kind.  Geary is the vocalist and I’m so reminded of Bob Dylan - one of Geary’s primary influences - when I hear the tracks.  You might hear some of his songs like “Cold Little Fire,” “See-Saw,” or “Always” on a soft rock FM station.  They’re slow tempo songs that have almost a ballad quality.  Many of the songs on the 11-track album start with an intro by Mark playing his guitar with no accompaniment.  “Tuesday” is definitely a stand out song that should be highly received by his audiences. It epitomizes the sad confusion of everyday life, but fear of change from it.

There are four other members in the group and the instruments range from piano, guitars, violins, viola, tambourines to acoustics and drums.  The band is touring right now between Ireland and the United States, hitting such places as Boston, Virginia and California.  Their Myspace web site shows the tour dates from September through November.  Because Mark is from Ireland, his albums have been released there and then in the United States.  His first album, Loggerhead, bears the soundtrack for the movie of the same name.  His second album was 33 1/3 Street.

This band is busy and already popular.  Their thought-provoking tunes are worth a listen.

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