Anything but stealthy, and so forward it feels as though it’s outside of the speakers and moving around the room with us, the beat behind Rob Alexander in the new song “Instant Sex” is the precise reason people like to dance. There’s a vitality to this element of the track that is unstoppably addictive, no matter how many times you’ve been exposed to it. Alexander is one with the rhythm of the music here, and throughout the whole of his new record Dream Out Loud, and listeners will soon know as much upon giving the record a spin in its entirety this year.
Rob Alexander’s lead vocal is designed to adorn the melodicism of his band in “Look out Below,” “La Flambeau,” “Nothing to Be Afraid of Now” and “Love Will Find You” rather than balancing the material out singlehandedly, which gives him some extra room to really focus on the passion in his lyrics. He’s not being overtasked in this LP at all; quite honestly, I don’t know that he’s ever sounded quite as relaxed and at peace with his surroundings as he does here. There’s no stopping him once he’s into the groove of a song, and he seems completely okay with going in whatever direction the other plays need him to in order to make everything spot-on perfect.
Though “Olivia” and “Angel and Johnny” are a little more streamlined than some of the previous Rob Alexander studio work would have initially prepared me for, they actually feel a little more natural and detached from expectation specifically for this reason. I don’t think he’s trying to be totally antiestablishment in his construction of the music in this album, but I do have to note just how off the cuff and spontaneous some of the best moments here tend to be. It’s a hair-down performance, which is definitely welcome after this past year in mainstream music.
DOWNLOAD IT: robalexander.hearnow.com/dream-out-loud
I can definitely tell that Alexander was thinking a lot about the future live performances we can only dream of seeing and experiencing right now when he sat down to work out of the kinks in “Kings and Queens,” “Hot Potato,” the title track and aforementioned “Instant Sex.” Whether it’s his clear appreciation for meaty rock and roll or simply the way he can finesse a pop hook into something funky and a little boisterous in rhythm and rhyme, he’s got the attitude of a man who knows this material was made for the stage. I can’t wait to hear it in that capacity sooner than later, and the teaser we’re given here is the reason why.
While I’ve admittedly been intrigued by the work of Rob Alexander for a couple of years now, this latest content is undisputedly a massive raising of the bar from what the clandestine Being Myself was built upon. This is an LP that celebrates his tenacity and wit with rhythm of the best variety, and it’s one I don’t think any of his longtime fans – nor critics – would be wise to miss out on.
Jamie Morse