Get There (Truckstop, 2001) is full of beautiful tunes enhanced by discreet arrangements like Unknown Flowers, Mello Hello and the sublimely romantic Here We Are, that, voice aside, hark back to Donovan, Simon & Garfunkel and Syd Barrett, with even one incursion in Bacharach-ain pop, Collage Made Of Air. While not everything shines, when it shines, it is epically simple and genuine. (Guests include Michael Krassner and Glenn Kotche).

Nothing Personal (Truckstop, 2004) is another subdued effort. Clearly, Marque does not like to shout his emotions at people. There is a better use of hip-hop beats and syncopated drumming, particularly in the opener, Blowback, a languid melody that overshadows everything else on the album. The soft breeze of Normalized Relations raises hopes of a more lively tone, but instead the conversational style of By The Way soon takes over and pretty much rules over the rest of the collection until Cheers And Applause wakes us with a little boogie. When the instruments find the right "groove", it can become the musical equivalent of a caress (I Had Considered It), but elsewhere it can sound plainly lifeless. That is not to say that the arrangements are trivial. In fact, they are quite original, although not in the way one would expect: chamber lieder such as Make Out are more noteworthy for what they don't do (e.g., the whispered piano notes) than for what they do. The overall emphasis is a little too much on relaxed, bedroom, even lounge atmospheres. In a different context, Your Best Guess could be a great pop-soul ballad.

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