With “Walking in the City,” Mark J Soler turns a simple daily ritual into a reflective, instrumental journey. Drawn from his three-track EP Walks, the single embodies the project’s central theme: the “inner life.” It’s less about destination and more about process — about how thought, memory, and emotion shift when the body is in motion. The track unfolds with an unhurried groove that mirrors the rhythm of footsteps against pavement. There’s a quiet pulse running through it, subtle but grounding, as melodic lines drift in and out like passing streetlights at dusk. Soler avoids unnecessary ornamentation, allowing space to become part of the composition. The result feels intimate, almost private — like overhearing someone’s thoughts while they wander through the city.
Influences from jazz, funk, and R&B gently color the arrangement, while a progressive sensibility gives the structure room to evolve. You can sense echoes of artists like Stevie Wonder and Prince in the harmonic warmth and rhythmic subtlety, though Soler’s voice remains distinctly his own. There’s also a compositional discipline — perhaps a nod to classical foundations and even to the architectural thinking of someone who balances music with a life in engineering. What makes “Walking in the City” resonate is its emotional progression. It begins in introspection, carrying a hint of weight, then gradually opens into something lighter and more hopeful. The city here is not chaotic; it is restorative. Living near Paris, Soler translates urban energy into something fluid and reflective. The music captures that familiar transformation: how a walk can clear the mind, soften regret, and gently restore perspective.
As a standalone piece, the track offers a calm listening experience. As part of Walks, it deepens the EP’s exploration of spirituality through sound — not spirituality in a grand or abstract sense, but in the quiet recalibration of the self. “Walking in the City” reminds us that clarity often arrives in motion, and that sometimes the most profound journeys are measured not in miles, but in thoughts released along the way.
English