Amber Mark’s Cover Series is a Bright Spot in Quarantine
The rising R&B star has stayed busy with her pandemic project: a new demos and covers EP

If you don’t already know about Amber Mark, it’s not too late.
The 26-year-old is a self-taught singer and producer based in New York City. Her genre-spanning music contains hints of bossa nova, R&B, hip-hop and pop.
Mark’s 2017 debut EP 3:33am deals with grieving the loss of her mother as a young adult. On “Monsoon,” the record’s central track, Mark sings over rain sounds, which represent the monsoon season in India (where Mark lived as a child)—as well as her tears. “I wish there was something I’d done more of,” she sings. “Knocked you out and dragged you there myself / Maybe then, you’d be here. You’d be here.” This EP, and her music in general, are both heavily influenced by growing up on the move with her mother (an artist), traveling internationally from Berlin to Miami to India, before eventually settling in the West Village.
In March, Mark released “Generous,” a preview of a new album, which has no verified release date yet. But, during quarantine, Mark has been busy creating a different project to keep us satisfied while we wait: COVERED-19, which is, of course, a play on COVID-19, but it is also a series of self-recorded, self-produced covers and original demos. All five songs in the series have an accompanying homemade video.
Mark launched the series with a cover of Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box.” She announced on Instagram: “Y’all wanted it so bad, so I had to put it out! Here it is…a little Heart-Shaped Box cover to keep you going through these crazy times.” Mark distinguished this version from the original with her layered vocals tracks and loose synth lines posing as the bass. This is not your average quarantine cover attempt— it’s an incredibly executed reinvention of a Nirvana classic.