After a prolific career as lead singer for Miracle Legion and Polaris—the house band on The Adventures of Pete & Pete—Mark Mulcahy returns with his first solo album in eight years, Dear Mark J. Mulcahy, I Love You. Even though Polaris wrote the music for Nickelodeon TV show, the band never really existed outside of it, but they did release an album. Mark’s solo career began with Fathering—an album that received loads of praise and featured the song “Hey Self Defeater,” featured in Nick Hornby’s 31 Songs. From there followed albums Smilesunset and In Pursuit Of Your Happiness.

Following many tours, Mark took a break from making music. Many of his long-time fans banded together to record an album of his songs in tribute to Mark’s wife. The result was Ciao My Shining Star, featuring JM Stipe, T. Yorke, A. Yorke, Frank Black, Hayden, Ben Kweller, Josh Rouse, The Great Vic Chesnutt, Dinosaur Jr., Juliana Hatfield and The National.