William Alexander was born in the town of Bourke in northern New South Wales and grew up in the western country of that state. While his musical influences include Elvis Presley and 80s rock, he found more affinity with hillbilly and western singers such as Tex Morton, Slim Dusty, Buddy Williams, Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. From the first bars of his new EP, Garlic Pickin’ Time, that lineage is not only clear but strongly, appealingly upheld.
The six songs on this EP are old timey in style but do not sound like an anachronism or a tribute – instead, it’s clear that Alexander deeply understands the music that has informed his development as a singer, songwriter and musician. While there’s not a lot of country music of this style being produced in Australia these days, that doesn’t mean Alexander is out of place because he offers something that is broadly appealing. The songs are lean on instrumentation but he has such a rich tone to his voice that it shouldn’t be set against a musical background that could in any way mask it. Alexander is one of those singers who could, as the saying goes, sing the phone book and people would pay to listen.
The subject matter of the songs draws in part from Alexander’s background – in his teens his family moved to the Mallee in Victoria but he still feels the connection to his original home, as evident in the final track, ‘My Old Bourke Home’. Nostalgia is not a pejorative term when it comes to this style of music; in fact, it’s almost a necessity, and Alexander manages to be nostalgic without being saccharine or maudlin. It comes back to that voice: robust, sympathetic and honest. And you don’t have to wonder what the phone book sounds like sung, because you can listen to this very fine EP instead.
Listen on/buy from:
Apple Music | Bandcamp | iTunes
www.williamalexander-music.com
Comments are closed.