It’s a little demoralising finding a musician who is infinitely more talented than you in plenty more areas than just music. In this instance, it’s Alex The Astronaut, the multi-talented musician, soccer player, and scientist. Smarts and sporting prowess aside, Alex The Astronaut is a seriously talented, and supremely wordy lyricist and musician. Here on her debut EP, To Whom It May Concern, she welcomes the world with her own take on foltkronica.
One thing you immediately notice about Alex The Astronaut (or Alex Lynn to her parents), is her non-traditional songwriting. Where many lyricists and songwriters rely on making strong rhymes throughout their tracks, much of the genius in Alex The Astronaut’s tracks lie not in her rhyming, but the imagery and stories she tells through out the tracks. Just as one of her main influences Paul Kelly does, Alex The Astronaut speaks much from a personal viewpoint and takes note on the going ons of the world around her. From her honest and prophetic comments through out first track “Already Home”, you get the feeling that Alex already has a strong grasp on where she wants to go as a musician. “Already Home” is a strong opener, as the track continually builds on its simple opening of guitar and drums, before concluding with orchestral quality.
“Rockstar City” is the standout track of the EP, as she speaks about the daunting nature of performing in front of the masses. It’s surely something that will fill every musician with joy and confidence: knowing the crowd are there solely for you and are probably going to back you irrespective of how well you start the set. Toning things down just a little with “Holes In The Story” and “Half of 21st Street”, you come to realise that everything (or the majority) that Alex talks about comes from personal experiences. It’s always a bit of a guessing game working out whether musicians are making up the stories in their songs, but from the get-go you can tell that Alex has lived her tracks. It’s this aspect of her song writing that just makes you want to like her that much more.
Closing on “I Believe In Music”, this track reaffirms everything I’ve written about Alex The Astronaut to this point. The simplicity of “I Believe In Music” speaks strengths about her as a lyricist. The lyrics are clear, to the point and from the heart. To Whom It May Concern is a strong debut EP for Alex The Astronaut. It showcases her strength as a musician and lyricist, even if she offers so much more than just music.
Review Score: 7.7 out of 10.
To Whom It May Concern is out now.
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