Man Alive is the solo project of Mark Prendergast, of Dublin outfit Kodaline, and his new single is the kind of song that feels instantly recognisable. The opening guitar refrain invokes familiar melodies as Prendergast lays down a wistful, heartbroken vocal.
Rather than shelter in timidity, however, What Are The Chances is full-throated, the chorus arriving in a golden carriage built of piano chords and melodies that ratchet the emotional drama of those gentle guitars. The result is undeniably cinematic, and it would risk being derivative if it wasn’t for two things.
Firstly, through Prendergast’s lyricism. The artist weaves together universally emotive themes, from small details, like visiting the old haunts of a loved one, to the big thematic hook of wanting to start a relationship again, with his promise of being better.
Yet Prendergast contrasts these, almost like an unreliable narrator — the odd disconcerting line hanging over his earnest vocals like a trailing question mark. Chief among them is the admission that, “I know I burned your neighbourhood to the ground”, but there are other details — walking in the rain, smoke in his room, and ultimately the reflection that “I’d probably end up doing the same”. It’s the kind of love song that straddles epic romance, and something quite a bit darker.
The second reason What Are The Chances transcends its form, however, is just how deftly it is constructed. Unwilling to rest on its laurels, the song further ratchets the chorus on its second iteration. In addition to the piano, it introduces dramatic reverb-heavy percussion before giving way to a bridge that has Prendergast’s vocal ad-libbing its way into the sunset.
Describing the song for BlackPlastic.co.uk, Prendergast shares how it is very much rooted in personal experience:
“What Are The Chances is a song about being at fault for a break up happening, for being on the other side of it. There’s no way around it, I let someone down and it’s about that. In the past I’ve written more from the other perspective because that’s where I was at.”
I was a little blown away by What Are The Chances, a song that feels so familiar and yet so memorable all at once.