Despite being born in Arkansas, raised in Mississippi and schooled in Texas, Charlie Mars’ latest disc, his self-titled V2 debut, sounds more like Britpop than it sounds like something made a man born in Arkansas, raised in Mississippi and schooled in Texas.

Charlie Mars is a melancholic disc rich with piano, harmonies and orchestrations that still retains its basic rock flavor of guitar, bass and drums. All of this, along with Mars’ excellent voice, which sounds like a cross between Bono and Thom Yorke, drives forward an excellent selection of songs. “Gather The Horses” is propelled by a Chris Martin-like piano line and Darren Dodd’s steady drumming. Some wonderful harmonies take over on the choruses while understated electric guitar stays effectively in the background.

Things slow down for a while with “Simple Things,” “Close To Home,” “White Out” and “When The Sun Goes Down.” These numbers show off Mars’ voice and David Campbell’s excellent string arrangements. The music on these tracks is very subdued, much to the overall strength of the songs.

The pace changes a bit on “Silver Buttons.” While keeping the mood down, the track features a drum loop and another great vocal.

Guitars take center stage on the disc’s first rocker, “Try So Hard.” Bouncing between electric and acoustic guitars, Mars delivers a set of inspired lyrics, starting off with the line, “Bless me father for I have sinned, and I will sin again.”

Staying in the rocking mood, some electric guitar chords are churned out to pace “One Horse Town.”  A drum loop returns on “Captain, Captain”, and the song builds to some great choruses.

Jangly guitar takes over on the final three tracks – the nostalgic “Bay Springs Road,” the wistful “How Could You” and the fitting album closer, “Nobody Cries.”

Special mention must go to the fine production job that guitarist/bassist Rick Beato does. He keeps the songs very focused with emphasis on Mars’ voice. And Beato had a lot to work with as Mars penned an impressive group of songs for his V2 debut.