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Photo: Shervin Lainez

This past season saw house and family alike littered with ghoulish looks, skeletal smiles, and blood-soaked fangs, but you know that our childhood sense of fear ages quickly. As we climb up the ladder of life, the creatures under the bed and in the closet become much, much less scary. Our fear matures into something all the more haunting: our everyday lives, our loves and lack thereof, and most especially our impossible to sustain sense of happiness.  

I am not allowed to diagnose or prescribe, but if you suffer from cherophobia (the fear of rejoicing) then 23-year-old New York native Mark Ambor is your antidote, and "Company" is your soundtrack. Ambor's earnest songwriting immediately strikes you with its savage optimism, crafting music that feels like an unrelenting shared hug amongst friends, a voice meant to chase away the anxious fears within. With only a few songs currently to his credit, it may be bold to suggest this is a style, but the consistent celebratory melodies, sing-along hooks, and communal lyrics clue the listener in to the fact that Ambor's cup is very much half full.

Written in the January of 2021, "Company" began as a long winter walk, with his subconscious clearly cold and alone. As Ambor says, "I wrote this song during quarantine when I was missing everyone and everything that made me feel alive. I was talking to a girl that I was falling away from, I hadn’t seen my friends in a while and the whole idea of the song just flowed out of me over a piano riff one day. The idea is simple: life is better with each other. Which, for me, really highlights an important feeling I want to convey; realizing we're not alone and celebrating ourselves, with one another, for all we're worth."  

The beauty of the song is immediately apparent, a delicate piano riff, uplifting lyrics, and a souring pre-chorus stating we'll "always get back onto our feet." Truthfully, it is hard to surmise Ambor's wholehearted lyrics any better than he does in song. For he is gifted writer, conveying fervent energy with simple, approachable appeal. The feeling “Company" gifts you is one of happiness, a reason to call a friend, wave at a stranger, hold a smile walking through your day.  

In an era where artists lean into the well of angst, pain, and complaint, what is most powerful about Ambor's message is its contrasting effect. That alone makes him worthy of our praise, but all the more welcomed because he'd be sure to share it right back. He's good company like that, and makes us wanna "shoot for the moon, land on the stars."

Listen to  "Good Company" below: