Welcome to the Funhouse

I've been meaning to start my regular new bands feature for a while, but never had the time or energy to actually do it. Should this post actually manage to work, I will aim to make this a weekly/monthly thing, giving you my lovely readers a taste of the prime musical meat on the market at the moment. First up on the chopping block- it's the thoroughly mysterious Alex Gladwell.

This lovely chap may have titled his debut Fantasia, but there's something much more twisted about this carnival..

That is pretty much all I know about this guy. His name, the name of the LP and the producer. Ooo mysterious. On his site there is no further information, and when requested for a little bit of bio for this post was humbly denied- it seems to me that he is definitely in this for the music and not status of any sort.

A lot of the tracks on Fantasia are equally intriguing. The repetitive Intro draws you in, it's drone like quality almost hypnotic, quite the opener. Bluntly named Song has all the traits of a good Hip-Hop track; a catchy beat and simple bass line, not to mention Alex's slightly husky vocals. Song is the kind of, well, song that I can imagine being played in a rather upscale club a few years from now, definitely one of the finer tracks on the LP.


The only thing I did notice was just how synthesised the arrangement is. Whether he's trying to go for a synth vibe (which may not prove beneficial if he wants people to stand up and take notice, there's far too much synth these days; along with legwarmers and Thatcher, it belongs in the 80s) or it's just because he doesn't have the facilities available to create a more raw sound, I think the electronic feel to many of the tracks is quite overwhelming. It's clear this guy has an amazing voice and the lyrics are genuinely refreshing, but the sheer tinny timbre of some of the tracks, most noticeably Slowly Barely, slightly diminishes the wow factor. I do however like how it has an almost primal sense of urgency right from the start of the track, Alex's voice a splurge of emotion.

Contrastingly, Gladwell has also managed to show his lighter side with some of the more upbeat stuff. Tracks like Gospel actually made me laugh out loud. I was certainly not expecting to hear Weird Al Yankovitch on an acoustic LP! There are also flashbacks of Mickey Mouse in Alex's falsetto that amuse me to no end. Besides that, this song has a lot of promise, the xylophone riff towards the end of the track adds a touch of clarity, making for a rather recumbent outro. And I always like a good xylophone.

In theory, I shouldn't like Ain't that the Way: Accordions and I have never been the best of friends. Nevertheless, I actually adore this song. It's the least synthesised track on the album; the accordion riff almost wistful, and although sounding a bit like background music to a Final Fantasy game, it's quite beautiful and the vocals manage to create a reflective but almost romantic atmosphere- of course its very use reeks of the French cliche. And I have to say, listening to some of his lyrics, he has a point.

Overall, I think this LP is a gem, albeit a rough one at the moment. With the different musical styles working together to form a uniquely fresh sound, (the only comparison I can think of would be Santogold based purely on musical diversity: African, Indian, Hip-Hop and Indie all feature briefly on this record) plus Alex's charming and slightly terrifying vocals, this album is a must for anyone who wants a breath of fresh air.
Go on, give him a go, you may be surprised..

Find the rest of his tracks here.