ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Crazy Days // Your Man Alex Smith
FAVOURITE SONG: 'Where I'm Going'
When Alex Smith contacted me asking me to review his brand new debut EP, 'Crazy Days', I had no idea what to expect. If you read my blog regularly, you'll know that I usually have something quite positive to say about the music I review, probably because I mostly discover bands in the musical areas that reflect my personal music taste. So, when it comes down to reviewing music that I wouldn't usually listen to, it's inevitable that the things I have to say are going to have a slightly different tone. I guess what I'm trying to prepare you for here is honesty. Apologies to Alex if you were hoping for unconditional praise, but unfortunately my aim behind this blog isn't to flatter. Here we go.
Brisbane's Your Man Alex Smith (or just Alex Smith for short) is an unsigned songwriter with an impressive vocal range and, from what I've gathered from live versions of his songs, a good level of skill with a guitar. From October to November last year, Alex led a campaign to raise money for the production, mastering and recording of the 5 track EP 'Crazy Days'. It seems that he already has a fan base big enough to smash the target of $1000, generating a remarkable $2,765 aided by the promise of especially designed t-shirts, posters and exclusive album artwork for those who were kind enough to donate at least $50. While Alex's pitch video casts him an incredibly sincere and musically passionate person (which I'm sure he is), I feel compelled to admit that if I had donated towards the manufacturing of the EP by the producer that, according to Alex, "takes gold and hands back platinum", I would have felt slightly let down with the outcome.
As soon as the EP's first track, 'Tragedy', opened with its Katy Perry-esque synths and escalated into an assemblage of far too precisely timed instrumental effects that I still can't tell have been produced from the electronic manipulation of real instrument tracks or are just simply computer generated- I knew something was seriously, seriously wrong. By this point, like I do for all reviews I write, I'd done a fair bit of research into the type of sound and image that Alex is trying to associate with. I found a strange contradiction in the fact that although Alex claims to be so personally attached to the music he writes acoustically as an emotional outlet, he also seems 100% willing to compromise that for the chance to be "radio playable". Now, I know that ultimately, it's every dedicated musician's aim to be successful in the music industry, but personally I feel being snapped up by big LA record labels shouldn't be the main agenda behind the production of a debut EP.
Alex Smith is clearly vocally talented and has the capability to ever so effortlessly rhyme the words "tragedy", "melody" and "see", but the amazing production he promised to the generous fans who donated their money to make this EP happen doesn't do much to let this shine through. Although the producer may have skill enough to use effects and put tracks together in time, the result of this is an extremely overproduced, synthetic sound. Alex's songs are stripped of their honesty and humour and quite frankly fail to fill any sort of gap in the popular music market. Overly harmonised, cheesy pop music with randomly placed Queen influenced solos and 1 dimensional "woah"s have already been catered to by Katy Perry, Bruno Mars and The Spice Girls. Now, I have to remind myself that British and Australian music scenes have huge differences, so maybe my indifference to Your Man Alex Smith is a result of being used to listening to great new bands who actually sound real. Throughout the whole EP, specifically on 'Tell Me a Lie', I've found myself noticing the terribly auto tuned harmonies in the background rather than the clever lyrics and incredibly clear vocals.
Overall, this EP has left me feeling terribly sorry for Alex Smith and the people who contributed towards the funding. This is obviously a passionate artist with the potential to write decent songs, but has sadly been the victim of a lust for commercial success, resulting in 5 dreadfully plastic sounding tracks that deprive the listener of the raw talent Alex demonstrates in his live performances. In my opinion, it's always better to focus on writing good, simple songs that people can relate to rather than trying to impress record labels with unflawed recordings. Music fans don't look for perfection, they look for uniqueness and aptitude.
Sorry Alex, I don't think this is what you were expecting. I hope it provides you with some constructive criticism that you can take into account on your next recording session, as I'm sure you will get where you so desperately want to be with a few good songs that you can actually play live on your acoustic guitar. Good luck to you for the future!