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
.
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.
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/
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/
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