(ICLG) Amber Mark shares the thrilling next taste of her highly anticipated sophomore album, Pretty Idea, with the new single "Too Much." The sweetly romantic cut leans into Marks' love for classic R&B by interpolating USHER and Alicia Keys' 2004 hit "My Boo."
Pretty Idea drops just ahead of Mark joining the North American leg of Sabrina Carpenter's arena-conquering Short n' Sweet Tour, which has grown to include four nights at Madison Square Garden and six at Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena. The tour launches October 23 in Pittsburg, hitting iconic venues in Nashville and Toronto, too.
"Too Much" makes good on its source material as Mark addresses an on-again, off-again love: "Is it too much if I'm thinking about you daily? / It isn't too much, late night calling me up all wavy / Stop playing, you know I'm your favorite / Let's not complicate it / Boy, you gotta say it isn't too much." With production from KingJet (Teddy Swims, Mac Miller), Chase.wav (Khalid, Kiana Lede), and Julian Bunetta (Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams), the track mixes lightly funky guitar with a grooving hip-hop beat, while Mark brings her best '90s/00s songstress stylings.
Mark recently announced Pretty Idea with a special message to her fans: "This album carries many highs and lows and lessons I didn't know I needed. So excited to finally share these songs with you. Consider this my way of turning all my bad ideas into Pretty ones."
She's already debuted two other "ideas" from the forthcoming LP: the sticky lead single "Sweet Serotonin," which embraces a more throwback soul sound, and "Let Me Love You," a driving and hypnotic cut that Stereogum hailed as, "a synthy, effervescent, bass-popping disco-funk track that keeps Mark's run of excellence going strong [...] Amber Mark is so reliably great that she is - almost by default, given her lack of A-list status - one of this era's most underrated pop stars." Pretty Idea is set to include appearances by Anderson .Paak and John The Blind.
Mark's last project was November's Loosies EP, a free-wheeling set meant to hold fans over while she finished Pretty Idea. Featuring the playful "Wait So Yeah," blissful disco cut "Won't Cry," and sultry Jersey club flip "Sink In," Loosies racked up fan and critic love. The New York Times included "Wait So Yeah" in their The Playlist feature. Wonderland shouted out Mark's "boundless creativity and undeniable artistry." And The Fader observed, "If Loosies was meant to quell the impatience of waiting for Mark's next record, I'm afraid it's only done the opposite."
Pretty Idea will be Mark's first album since 2022's Three Dimensions Deep, which received near-universal praise upon release. Considering the songs shared so far and the massive tour dates ahead, it looks like the multi-hyphenate talent is in the process of outdoing herself.
Short n' Sweet Tour
10/23 - Pittsburgh, PA - PPG Paints Arena
10/24 - Pittsburgh, PA - PPG Paints Arena
10/28 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
10/29 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
10/31 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
11/1 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
11/4 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
11/5 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
11/10 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena
11/11 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena
11/16 - Los Angeles, CA - Crypto.com Arena
11/17 - Los Angeles, CA - Crypto.com Arena
11/19 - Los Angeles, CA - Crypto.com Arena
11/20 - Los Angeles, CA - Crypto.com Arena
11/22 - Los Angeles, CA - Crypto.com Arena
11/23 - Los Angeles, CA - Crypto.com Arena
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