Trevor Drury is back, and he has a new muse with him. The song “Alice” is a hidden treasure trove of graffiti-like sounds and Drury’s baritone confidence. Arlo Guthrie might have forever connected the name Alice with his “Alice’s Restaurant”, but Drury takes the name and springboards this character into a world that is both in the Fastlane and a reminder to slow down and enjoy the moment. That’s the thing about Drury, in his arsenal of hits, which also includes the seductive “Second Chances”, Drury always takes the listener on an elusive trek. It might be a one-way ticket, but it’s worth the fare.
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Drury’s debut record, The Start, came out in 2016. The singer and model, worked with Grammy-winner Marc Swersky on “Alice”, which is from his sophomore album, Alice, It’s All In Your Head. What do you know? Drury asks the song’s protagonist. I think he’s also asking himself. Rattling beneath the lyrics and his afar vocals, I think he’s gravitating towards this stranger because he wants to connect. I think he’s looking for a way to connect with a human being so completely different from him, to truly know himself. Listeners, too, can find these lyrics, this broken poem a metaphor for the unknown in their own lives.
Take my mind, he sings. This line reminded me of the challenges we face as a society with social media. The fear of missing out, and we want to escape into others’ lives. We see those perfectly staged Instagram photos and want to switch our lives for theirs. Or, in the world of a quick TikTok video, we want to move past people at a quicker rate.
The fast-moving tempo, sometimes jarring and white noise-like in “Alice” seems like Drury is changing channels. He’s flipping through the channels or swiping left and right. I think it could also mean that Alice herself hasn’t kept up with technology and she herself is falling behind. She’s invisible to most people, but not to Drury. He’s never judgmental or shaming Alice, and I think he’s sensitive to her situation. Whatever that is.
Alice
Listen to Alice on Spotify. Trevor Drury · Single · 2021 · 1 songs.
“Alice” is a delicate song because it has so many intricate sounds. It’s never a thundering drum beat that strikes the listener, and Drury stays in a very confined vocal range. I think at any moment it could shatter into a million different genres and pieces. Still, this song makes waves. It changed me. It gave me a lot to think about and I couldn’t keep this Alice from entertaining and entering my mind. I think she haunts me the same way she haunted Drury.
I think Drury knows this and in his very artistic, even smart way, understands we all have a friend that a part of us envies or worries about. We have empathy for them, but we never feel sorry for them. Drury excels at creating a sound that is both pop and industrial. I wanted more and I need to know who Alice really is. Or maybe I already do.
Clay Burton