Rob Alexander’s new album Long Road Coming Home

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/robalexandermusic/

Rob Alexander’s new album Long Road Coming Home is chock full of vibrant and evocative tracks that each work to capture a different element in his multilayered sound, but the record’s title track and fourth single is perhaps the most opulently vivid, emotional and relatable in its collection. Alexander doesn’t pull any punches in the lyrics of this song; on the contrary, he goes out of his way to wear his soul on his sleeve, cutting through any barriers that might exist between the music and us with his slick style of attack. For being a lethargic year in pop, this single stands out as a much needed beacon of radiance and optimism.

All four singles released from Long Road Coming Home have shown off a different angle of Rob Alexander’s multidimensional approach to songwriting, and in the title track we get to experience his more elegant side firing on all cylinders. The song plods along at the pace of a funeral drum, but its melody is anything but elegiac in nature. The crispness of the percussion and the insular hum of the instruments slinking around Alexander’s commanding voice create an atmospheric glow that is infectiously comforting. Though its climax isn’t as exciting as I’d like it to be, the brooding shadow the chorus casts makes up for it in spades.

Alexander is as vulnerable as he’s ever been with us in “Long Road Coming Home,” but he also comes off as speaking from a removed place of wisdom. Hindsight isn’t always 20/20, but what’s really trying to be conveyed to us here isn’t the concept that time heals all wounds. More than anything else, I get the impression that Alexander wants us to consider the courage that it takes to admit our faults and transcend the past in order to make a better future. After all, we’re often the ones who make the road home all the longer with our indecision and lack of self-realization

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The mix of this track is a little plain for my taste, but the play from the band and Alexander himself is actually quite exceptional. It’s somewhat frustrating that the chorus is so much louder than the introductory verses are, but the absence of clarity doesn’t take so much away from the performance that the single becomes unlistenable. Rob Alexander has a wild talent that I would imagine is hard to capture within the four walls of a studio, but I think his music would benefit significantly from a slightly more concise mix in the future.

While he still has room for growth in several cosmetic areas of his songcraft, Rob Alexander shines nevertheless in “Long Road Coming Home” and delivers another rollicking soft rock sonnet to satisfy our inner lust for unblemished harmonies. Like the whole of his new album, “Long Road Coming Home” showcases the smoldering passion of a songwriter who utilizes a unique method when it comes to constructing original material. His music isn’t born out of a template nor a concept conceived by his forerunners; it comes from within his own heart.

I-TUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/long-road-coming-home/1348846070

Trevor Hopkins

The music of Rob Alexander has been heard all over the world due to the promotional services offered by Danie Cortese Entertainment & Publicity. Learn more here - http://www.daniecorteseent.com/

Abby Zotz - Local Honey (LP)

URL: https://abbyzmusic.com/

I value, more than all else in music, albums and artists who can transport me into their own personal vision for a time. I want it to be a fully immersive affair. Longtime folk music singer/songwriter Abby Zotz accomplishes that and more with her first solo album Local Honey and, definitely in some senses, the album marks a break with her extraordinarily rewarding past in favor of a new dawn. Many of the musical strengths defining her two decade musical career are present on this album, as well as the roots of her classical education, are in evidence throughout the collection, but she has expanded on the sound she hears in her mind with Local Honey and sounds comfortable on every cut.

Some people might find the premise behind the opener “Stability” to be a bit predictable, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as part of the joy the song produces comes from hearing how well she executes the inevitable turns in its lyrical and musical narrative plus what added personality she can bring to a familiar theme. The energy crackling off the recording never overwhelms listeners, but it’s ideal for the album’s beginning track. Zotz latches onto a funky retro vibe with the second tune “Big Hope” and the title alone reflects the inherently upbeat slant defining this album. It isn’t a Pollyanna approach to the world, however, and that’s reflected in the bluesy guitar lines cutting through the song’s mix. The production is a constant strength for Local Honey and gives these already great tunes even more dramatic punch.

YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU1Pg_pFpyqeQXbLRz54kRQ

“Peace Sweet Peace” and “Pirouette” are wildly contrasting songs illustrative of her far reaching talents. The light-stepping musical approach of her gospel cut “Peace Sweet Peace” strikes a pleasing universal note but the latter song is a much shapelier, tightly controlled number with a shuffle like sound that Zotz’s voice slides through with great confidence. “Pirouette” is one of the finest lyrics on Local Honey, but the later track “Be Here Now” may be the sharpest piece of writing on the release. There are some particularly winning lines near the beginning drawing together a character with a few brief strokes and the remainder of the song fleshes it out with a single wasted movement.

The comforting touch of “Hush Baby Waltz” is one of the album’s more elegant musical turns and the vocal for this song is framed perfectly against its arrangement. The apex of her nuance on Local Honey comes with the song “Sea Change” and the weaving of her voice, taking obvious delight in the lyrics and phrasing alike, plays off the musicians with a sparkle in her eye. I didn’t enjoy the album’s ending, at first, thinking it too light, but “You’ll Never Know” grew on me with a few listens because it’s such a confident, underplayed conclusion for Local Honey. It’s an important new turn for her musical career, but the variety of her first solo album heralds a critical turning point in her life as well.

DEEZER: https://www.deezer.com/us/album/69628302

Levi Colston