"Bones to Ashes" comes from the second Singer Soldier album, Illusions of Stability. It is a song of fragile beauty, beginning with softly strummed acoustic guitar and delicately floating male/female vocals. Chiming guitars and steady, purposeful percussion follow, as the story is told of a haunted soul "When I close my eyes, I pray to god I will survive". From snippets of lyrics like "time to move on, time to be strong," one surmises this is about a failed relationship, but it’s a pretty song that sparkles with determination and hope. Toward the end, the guitars melt into a hypnotic electronic trance, perhaps signaling a "moving on" of sorts. Illusions of Stability features luscious instrumentation, piano, drums, bassoon, violin, cello and mandolin, in addition to guitars. This is certainly not your standard "alt country" music, weaving artfully between alternative rock, alt folk, classical and electronic.
"One of the Midwest’s greatest multi-instrumentalists, Nick Marko, recently e-mailed the blog with his latest single from his new project: Singer Soldier. The former Holy Fire band member’s single, "Bones to Ashes," is probably one of the best rock tracks that I heard in a long time. Between the sturdy arrangement, the haunting lyrics, and superb vocals, I am very surprised why this song is not being featured on any rock radio at all. Hopefully 2017 will be a breakout year for Nick Marko and Singer Soldier, because I believe that his sound should be showcased at music festivals around the country."
Singer Solider is from Michigan and is the project of Nick Marko. He categorizes himself as an alt-country band yet it’s so much more than that. "The War Is Over" is from their recently released album and it packs a beautiful punch with an eloquent orchestral accompaniment that brings a new edge to today’s indie landscape that teeters along singer-songwriter and indie rock.