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Alex Walker

Trust The Fire

Written by: PP on 13/05/2010 22:25:48

Some songs you like just because of how the melody flows and catches on. Then there are those that emit a vibe that's always going to rescue your mood no matter what the context is. Alex Walker's two track EP "Trust The Fire", released with the Creative Commons license, has two tracks that always put me in a completely relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable spirits for as long as the songs resonate in my mind. The genre is indie-electronica, heavy on synthesized beats and keyboard effects, so we're not dealing with anything particularly original here, but Alex Walker triumphs because of great, subtle songwriting instead.

"Trust The Fire" starts out almost like a post-rock track, with a light, sky-high guitar melody leading the track gently forward, while Alex's soft croon takes the spotlight for some of the catchiest verse and chorus lines I've heard in this genre for a while. The whole arrangement is overwhelmingly simple, but it's still very effective in bringing that relaxed mood I talked about before. The melody isn't direct, like on most poppy indie electronica releases, but instead very soft, inoffensive and subtle, sneaking into your consciousness without you actually noticing. "Caught Starin", the second track, relies on similar approach, except the guitars take a more down-to-earth approach mostly, and the dreamy chorus melody is possibly even better than in the song before.

I've been trying to come up with names to compare Alex Walker to, but short of Portugal. The Man on their debut album, I can't quite figure out which indie/electronica band he is most similar to. I know I've heard a similar band before, help me out in the comments as usual. Not that it really matters anyway, the two songs on this EP speak for themselves. Here's to hoping for Alex to record a full album, and for all the songs to be as good as the two on offer here.

Download: Caught Starin
For the fans of: Portugal. The Man's debut album, System And Station
Listen: Myspace

Release date 02.03.2010
Lapdance Academy