Marques Martin Looks Up While ‘Kissing Pavements’

Hailing from Maryland, New York, Marques Martin’s catalogue is somewhat of a blank slate at the moment. However, this is by no means a bad thing, the guy’s got his whole musical career ahead of him to experiment.

In fact, experimentation is something he’s already exhibited. His debut track, ‘Hailey’, with its bizarre structure and minimal instrumentation, found Martin delivering a spoken-word-like articulation of an angst-filled encounter with his summer crush. Each bassy kick representing his thumping heart as he attempted – yet ultimately failed – to get to know her.

Martin’s second and most recent offering, ‘Kissing Pavements’, is a little more explorative lyrically – and certainly more poignant contextually. While Martin’s parents got divorced, he endured the alienation of bouncing between various homes and schools, leaving the fresh-faced vocalist in need of some guidance. This guidance, albeit rather warped, came from his father – who himself was battling with lethargy and depression.

“Kissing Pavements is a song I recorded a while after my parents divorced. I had to move and switch schools twice. Around this time I had been growing closer to my father who has serious health issues. I remember him telling me about how he had given up. He didn’t trust anyone, and felt like everyone just wanted to use him.  I felt like he was just being lazy and making excuses but I often found myself feeling the same way too. He actually gave me the lyric ‘I’m good at being at home’.”

These unfortunate states of affairs all manifest themselves on ‘Kissing Pavements’. A distorted bassline is punctuated with an oddly buoyant piano riff, as Martin waxes cynical about the problems that plague his personal life. However, despite his father’s infectious negativity, there are traces of optimism in Martin’s words, which are perhaps reflected in the instrumental itself.

It’s a sort of lovable, Cudian optimism: “Yeah, I don’t have too many friends, life could be better, but fuck it – I like my own company.”