We’re living in the age of the outspokenly emotive in all areas, considering. There are no excuses for holding back, but more than anything else, this is the age of poets finally having their voices gain the strength of a melodic backdrop even without the frills. With that to drive his passionate vocal, we find Rob Alexander ready to bring the melodic heat into the next decade of pop with his new single, “Get Over Yourself.” He’s swaggering as he comes up to the microphone, but his words are devoid of an arrogant undercurrent that too often drags a good ballad into the gutter. This is a new age for independent musicians, and it can be said that Alexander is taking full advantage of the opportunities he’s got right now.
Songwriters use certain tools more than others when trying to create a mood within any given melody, but it would seem to me that Rob Alexander has no qualms with using every device set before him in “Get Over Yourself.” The vocal isn’t the only match striking up a vibrant flame in this song; we’ve got the multifaceted string parts, which include what I think is the leering echo of a distant groove during the chorus, as well as a neo-noir percussive synth and a muted bassline that wants desperately to be heard (not unlike the protagonist – who is perhaps Alexander – that the lyrics present us with). It’s not sensory overload, but were it not mixed so smoothly, it might have been.
I would love to hear Rob Alexander try some jazzier material in the future. Though “Get Over Yourself” is club rock with a pop edge, it’s got an experimental stylization that leans more towards the avant-garde than it does a conventional, Billboard-approved sound. I’m not suggesting that he’s wasting his time making specifically melodic pop music because that couldn’t be much more false a statement. What I am saying is that, with a palate as diversely appointed as his is, he shouldn’t feel limited to making radio-friendly music alone. This is an angular composition that doesn’t fit into any box that I would normally shove a halfhearted indie hybrid inside of; it’s straight pop prowess with some evocative verses that make an even bigger impression than the grooves surrounding them do.
The future is looking bright for this young man and his dynamic sound, but he’s going to have to put a lot of energy into whatever he makes in the studio as a follow-up to this awesome new single. “Get Over Yourself” doesn’t just set the bar exceptionally high for Rob Alexander; it raises expectations for an entire scene of adult contemporary singer/songwriters who are trying just as hard as he is when it comes to being involved in the new generation of pop. He doesn’t convey anything but real talk in this track, and if he can replicate the same formula in material that expands upon the blueprint of the sound that he’s demonstrated for us here, he’s going to be turning a lot of heads with his earthy harmonies in the next decade.
Clay Burton