In the autumn of 2008, young New Zealand-born tenor
Will Martin released his debut album,
A New World, featuring
Martin backed by
the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. The album, which peaked at number 21 in the charts, took its title from the track "Going Home," a song based on the melody of
Dvorák's New World Symphony, and other classical compositions on
A New World included Song of Peace from
Sibelius' Finlandia and Albinoni's Adagio as the song "Anytime Anywhere," which featured additional vocals by one of the genre's successful acts,
All Angels. The girl group was also featured on the final track, "Hine e Hine," a Maori folk song, which related to
Martin's traditional native roots.
A New World included classical tracks from the movies, as
Martin covered "Into the West," the theme song from Lord of the Rings, and
Ennio Morricone's "Cinema Paradiso." Debut albums from singers on the Universal Classics and Jazz label usually profiled MOR pop songs as well as straightforward classical material to give the average MOR listener something familiar, but there were no such songs on this album. The closest to a crossover pop hit was a cover of
Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy," which was 60 years old, hardly a "new world" -- and therein lay
Will Martin's main problem. Competing against both really talented singers who can sing and choose just the right material and untalented singers who can't sing a note but look good to the mass of people who couldn't care less about the choice of material, he should decide which camp better suits him in time for the second album, if there is to be one. ~ Sharon Mawer