Alexander Fairchild

The music of Alexander Fairchild is instantly gratifying; a sweeping cleanse of a heavy heart in need of redemption. Like that way you can feel good after being emotionally wrung out. ALEXANDER FAIRCHILD VOLUME 1 is out today , worldwide via TPC MUSIC/SONY RED is a collection of anthems trying to make sense of love among it's greatest champion and rival: the head and the heart. Not one for introspection, he's compelled to write it out, shout it out, stew in it for a little while. The result is a meticulous and sprawling manifesto of a man helplessly and eagerly in love. To which he has his own method: "my deal on love is very simple and complex: firstly, I believe that one should be careful in the small decisions and reckless in the big ones". He pulls from bygone eras, sentimentally taking from it what is necessary and infusing it with his own soul, indie and pop influences. His moniker too, makes its nod to icons and relics - Alexander the Great and Fairchild compressors, used by the Beatles, citing The Doors, Joni Mitchell and the Beach Boys as his enduring shrines. Fairchild takes on all the sounds himself, with an intuitive sense of instrumentation from it's technical anatomy to the way it makes you feel. Songs like Tonight and Very First Time were made for us; those who still feel wild, young and free. And there's an ease to it. As if these songs just happened to him, washing over him after a few moments strumming and humming on his living room floor. And you'll revel in it with him, dissolve into his vocals, his smoky falsetto layered upon itself in the easiest of melodies, prompting you to know it by heart come the next verse. This ease is best attributed for a lifetime's worth of playing music; as a child raised by two musicians, a supernaturally talented family, and a dedicated year to fleshing out songs from Waterloo, ON to his hometown of Harriston, ON; making his rounds in SoHo, NYC where he now mostly resides, among a body of restless poets just like him. Then there's that sweetness, letting his melodies - repetitive and swelling - consume you like rhythmic jolts to your toes and neck and limbs, making you move, making you feel like you've inherited the sounds that made your parents move. And that's just it –Fairchild orchestrates the kind of pop music that is so romantic, naked and uninhibited that you mistake it for nostalgia. Nick Drake is heard in quiet despair, as his own ghost reveals himself - in the elegant fingerpicking of Tamales – “Oh the way" picks up where "Place to Be" left off. While Honey is a song aching with soul, sonically stinging with pop, funk and gospel in the most playful way - artifacts of Muddy Waters and Stevie Wonder, full bodied hymns to a lover. He returns dutifully back to love with every song. Very First Time is crushingly reverent - love's endurance, beyond years, pristine and absence of decay like we hope it'll be once we've lost our thick heads and smooth skin. These aren't songs of naivety but a kind of earned wisdom, "I believe happy music is misrepresented when it is void of this tension. The perpetual crisis of relationships and life must be given a spotlight in order that they are shown to be overcome by hope and hard work. Those are happy songs. The Beatles “We Can Work It Out” was a song just Iike that. I want to write these songs." says Fairchild. Most wholly, Where Do You Go is playful and spirited; Fairchild reveals himself in his own restlessness, angst, and unabashed charm, all in the name of love, "I believe love to be one of the greatest catalysts of human growth because it is an experience multilaterally: body, soul, spirit. Nothing wields so much power." Another catalyst for Fairchild’s growth is collaboration with his artistic peers, especially that of his longtime friendship with acclaimed photographer and director Brooks Reynolds, who has filmed many of Fairchild’s videos. Inviting artistic vision of trusted friends is essential to his work. “I had an idea for this one video where we’d just shoot him writing a song. I showed up at 9pm and he had some idea of a melody, and he did the whole song that night… he works so fast in the studio, most people will go through instruments over and over and he’ll just do one drum take and call it a day. He just knows his instruments and plays them so well” says Reynolds. To that, he adds, “I really like how versatile and accessible his music is while still being identified as his own. He loves playing with old organs and really outdated stuff – that’s become his stamp in a lot of ways but you can go through his music and choose three songs and they all sound like different people. He’s all over the map but he remains a good storyteller, and that’s what calls for good visuals”. Alexander Fairchild is taking his songs on the road in support of the record, kicking off in October , watch out for his new debut LP "ALEXANDER FAIRCHILD VOLUME 1 ". For tour dates and more information, visit his website at www.alexanderfairchild.com