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/