Alex Nackman presents: Above Sirens
A limited vinyl reissue that revisits an ambitious alt rock record with Brit pop instincts and modern production detail.
Alex Nackman first released Above Sirens in 2017 as a digital-only album, then toured it, placed some of the music on TV, and moved forward. What never happened at the time was a proper physical edition. The project has now been remastered and re-cut for a limited edition LP, handled in New York by engineer Scott Hull, whose credits include Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer and Dave Matthews. The intention is clear. This is a chance to frame the record as a complete statement, in a format that suits the kind of guitar and synth driven songwriting that Nackman was exploring at the time.
Musically, Above Sirens sits in that space where American alt rock artists look toward 90s and early 2000s British bands. Nackman namechecks Radiohead, Oasis, Snow Patrol, New Order, Pete Yorn and The Cure, and their imprint can be heard in the steady mid tempo arrangements, in the melodic pressure of the choruses, and in the way keyboards are folded into the mix to widen the songs rather than decorate them. He began as an acoustic based songwriter, then layered in electronic textures. The result is a record that still privileges structure and hooks, but is comfortable adding synths, pulses and rhythmic programming to underline emotion.
Lyrically, the album moves between reflection and perseverance. Nackman tends to write from a place of lived experience rather than abstraction, so the songs read like dispatches from an artist who was traveling, working, and trying to make sense of an increasingly crowded landscape. On vinyl, this narrative gains weight. The sequencing invites a front to back listen, and the updated cut gives the guitars more space while keeping the electronic elements precise.
As a re-release, Above Sirens works because it does not chase nostalgia. It documents a point when Alex Nackman had one foot in singer songwriter territory and the other in thoughtful, radio minded indie rock, and it shows how naturally he could move between the two. It is a reminder of how fully formed he already was in 2017, and why a physical edition makes sense now. Alex Nackman remains an artist with a clear sense of craft and a long view on his catalog.
