You can catch Kevin Alexander out playing covers. But you might want to check out his original art! He just released his third solo album. It’s a full twelve songs which is a big undertaking. His last one was twelve, too and he’s already working on the next. He said it took four years to do the last album and this one was two years in the making. Alexander layered on the guitar tracks, harmonica and vocals. You’ll also hear Wurlitzer keys, strings and even a bassoon. It’s an eclectic piece of work.
“On May 25th, I’m releasing my 3rd solo album of original material, Unhappy Imperials, which was arranged & produced by me in my home studio. However, instead of doing everything myself like I did with my 2nd album Girls & Other Beasties which I just released last October, this time I decided to collaborate with a percussionist whose work I deeply admire, Joe Westerlund from NC who is most well known for working with Watchhouse (formerly Mandolin Orange). Unhappy Imperials, like my prior albums, was mixed & mastered by Jocko of Capture.Studio in Syracuse, “ Alexander shared.
I spoke to him about my top picks. Here’s what he had to say:
“Rocketeer”
“It went through several iterations. It’s actually around 10 years old. It was rearranged to add finger picking and gentle layers. We added a string arrangement last minute. I tracked the whole album roughly in one month with guitar then sent it to the drummer and he tracked remotely. Then I re-recorded on top of those tracks.”
Alexander was a fan of Westerlund already and had met at a show. “North Carolina has a good folk scene,” he said.
“Rebound”
“It has a 90s pop alt sound. This was also an old song. I made it grungier.”
“I don’t like to say what I meant because I’m sort of robbing the person of their own meaning. Songwriting is a journey. The whole album seems like something I was trying to get to.”
“So Tired”
“This is a recent song with a good story. My friends were running a science fiction podcast cast and I wrote it to fit. I actually wrote it in my driveway then ran in and recorded it. It’s kind of an outlier, the tonality is a little separate. It’s more of a rocking track, a little fresher.”
“Okay Dreamer”
This one is a Brit pop kinda tune. “It’s a little quirky but has a very simple structure.”
“When I’m in it, I’m in it. But once it’s done it’s like it’s not mine anymore.”
Alexander is already working on his next album. “I like the full album experience,” he explained. This one will be more relevant, more current and more representational of the folk style I identify with.
His first three albums can be described as Alternative Indie. The next one is really stripped down and more lyrically driven.
