Mark Northfield is a very interesting musician and composer, - maybe not exactly in the genres we usually write about here in Eardrums, - but his music really makes me feel good, and that’s a good enough reason for me to recommend this artist to all of you.

Northfield’s music has been defined by himself as “Alt Classical”, which in my opinion describes it all very good. The arrangements are mostly classical, - strings, piano and classical orchestration. The vocal melodies are closer to alternative pop/rock, but you will never question where Northfield has his heart: This is classical music. And it is more than that.
His style may remind of the music of Owen Pallett/Final Fantasy, or artists like Clogs or Max Richter, - all of them artists I like very much. For some strange reason, I am also reminded of more electronic musicians like Dave Gahan/ Martin Gore of Depeche Mode and Marc Almond, especially in  some of the vocals.

In march this year, Mark Northfield released an album called “ascendant” on his own label Substantive recordings (available at Rough Trade or CD Baby, and I’ve also seen it on iTunes). The album is composed to be listened to from start to finish, and I assure you that 50 minutes with Mark Northfield’s music is well spent. The album features nine different vocalists, and according to the press release, this is his discreet tribute to 4ad’s collective This Mortal Coil and Stephin Merritt (The 6ths and The Magnetic Fields) as well as Hector Zazou and Craig Armstrong.

Northfield regularly works as an accompanist for ballet and contemporary dance classes at Arts Ed, London Contemporary Dance School and the Royal Academy Of Dance.

Listen to one of the songs on the album, and if you like his style, get the album!

Mark Northfield - Waiting for Green