ALEX HEDLEY – EP REVIEW

Alex Hedley – This Life EP (Cyber Nomad Records) 
Alex Hedley - This Life EP


Release Date: 26th January 2018

Swanage lad Alex Hedley grabbed my attention with a great single last year so I’m excited to see and hear what this new EP has to offer us, and you should be too. The first of these six tracks is ‘Let It Roll On’, a recent single and a piece of rolling-fields bliss that is somewhere between Frank Turner’s English folklore and Dylan’s strained story telling. The finger picking of Hedley’s guitar and his vocals that live on the edge are patched together by some lazy harmonica and a real sense of what might have been. ‘Possibility’ is up next and has a more sunny, optimistic vibe with elements of George Ezra and Avert Francis bleeding through the cracks as the guitar chugs and rolls without the need for any percussion or a backing band.

On ‘This Life’, Hedley turns the lights down low, lights a cigarette and treats us to a confessional in the vein of Noah Gundersen or Jeff Buckley which builds from a semi-drunk acoustic stroll to an organ fuelled piece of open-heart surgery that does something primal to your feels. All the feels. There’s no antidote to a good soul-baring better than a bit of a lively rock out and Hedley lets his frustration out on ‘Poor Soul’ which has a pleasing jangle about it with the energy of a Springsteen romp. ‘Burn Away’ is probably my favourite track on this album but that might be because it’s Saturday night and I’ve had a few drinks. Alternatively, it’s my favourite because it’s the kind of song you hear drifting down an alley way on a cold, wet November night that draws you in to a bar for one of those nights that feeds your soul and gives you enough energy to keep going.

The EP closes with an alternative, radio friendly version of ‘Poor Soul’ which may or may not be necessary, I’m not hear to judge. What is so utterly gorgeous about this EP is the universal appeal of Alex Hedley who could easily reach the same international appeal as Frank Turner but with less of the anger but more warmth and emotion which is no bad thing for my money.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/alexhedleymusic/

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