Face Through The Cracks perfectly establishes Jacob Mallow as a new form of pop-pianist, one that sits neatly between the high art of the serious end of the genre and the kitsch of the throwaway stadium anthem types. More niche and woven of integrity than most piano balladeers and more accessible than the cultish players such as Tori Amos and the like. It is an honest, heartfelt ballad, emotions worn openly on the sleeve, a tale of love and loss and set to an elegant minimalist and sparing playing, a combination of the underlying classical beauty of the music and the classic pop vocal deliveries which sets up a wonderful balancing act at the heart of the song.
Mallow’s charm lies in this balance of worlds, the fine line that he walks between the commercialism of the charts and the allure of the classical world, the blend of the subject matter of love and longing and music which bristles with restraint and understated majesty.
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