Indie-pop banger alert! TikTok star, Mark Ambor, is gearing up to release his catchy new track, The Long Way, and simultaneously become your new favourite artist
09/09/21
Photo: Mark Ambor: “The Long Way” official single artwork
This time last year, New York born singer-songwriter, Mark Ambor was nothing but your typical boy next-door with a couple thousand Instagram followers and a passion for music.
Skip to today, and he’s currently boasting 234k Instagram followers, where with every post, he receives thousands of likes, alongside hundreds of comments from dedicated and adoring fans, most of which are begging him for new music or to cover their favourite tracks by other artists. In addition to this, through posting covers and demos of original songs, he has also gained an audience of 217k on TikTok, where a snippet of his upcoming release, “The Long Way”, has recently gone viral with 676k views and also surpassed 6k pre-saves.
Scrolling through the comments on the latest TikTok taster of the new track, I can’t help but feel smug every time I come across a comment from evidently a hardcore fan begging for the song to be released a few days earlier, or proclaiming that they need this song, in the knowledge that I’ve been lucky enough to have been sent the full release a couple of weeks before its official release date, and have had it playing on repeat because I’m just so obsessed.
“The Long Way” is filled with catchy guitar riffs, giving the number a feel-good, breezy, summery vibe to it, presenting a really positive aura that puts you in such a good mood upon listening. It’s absolutely impossible to try not to dance, or at the very least, tap your foot, to this tune (I tested this, and as predicted, I failed – it’s just too upbeat to ignore!)
Alongside the guitar riffs and thrilling background noise, the song features really polished vocals and production, which is really impressive, and admittedly not something that I was expecting to hear, especially considering Ambor is an artist who is only in the early stages of his career. Already, this track strikes me as a radio ready hit coming from someone who knows exactly what they are doing, oozing experience. In terms of the lyrical content and themes, but also the fact that it received such critical acclaim online, “The Long Way” really reminds me of the work produced by artists such as Alexander23 and Thomas Headon. However, within the sonic aspects and in particular, Ambor’s vocals, it is Shawn Mendes and his pop perfection tracks that I can’t help but think of.
Having not heard of Mark Ambor before, and not having many expectations prior to my first listen, I think it’s fair to say that I am now quite the fan. I’ve found my new favourite artist, and I think that you’re about to, as well!
“The Long Way” by Mark Ambor is set for release on 14th September 2021, and you can pre-save it here.
KATIE HILLIER