Musicians You Aren’t Listening To... But You Should Be: Mark Owen

Mark Owen- screen capped from the “Back for Good” music video.

Mark Owen is probably best known as "The Cute One” from the long-standing British pop super-group Take That where he has sang lead vocals on songs like “Babe,” “Hold Up a Light” and “Shine.”

It was after Take That's 1996 break-up (which turned out to just be an extended break), that Mark Owen finally found himself able to emerge musically as a solo artist. For much of the band’s early work, Owen found himself unable to step out from under the creative shadow cast by Gary Barlow. During the 10 year hiatus that followed Take That’s break-up, Owen released four solo albums (to varying levels of success): "Green Man" (1996), "In Your Own Time" (2003), "How The Mighty Fall" (2005), and "The Art of Doing Nothing" (2013).

Owen’s voice has a definite unique quality (of which I’m still trying to find adjectives to describe). While you can hear this in his Take That vocals, it is put on full display in his solo work. His sound is a bit more raw than the unabashed romantic ballads of Gary Barlow, but there is a fascinating element of simplicity and innocence in the sound. His creativity as an artist practically leaps from the speakers. Stand out singles for me are “Carnival” (video above), “Stars” and “Animals.” These songs also demonstrate that he is also an incredibly talented songwriter as well, which before these albums he wasn’t as able to display. 

Mark Owen’s albums run the spectrum from pop to indie rock. Two of his albums (“In Your Own Time” and “The Art of Doing Nothing" are readily available through popular streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify. Pop on over to YouTube and take a listen. You won’t regret it.