Surprise Sixth

Though he seemingly dropped off the radar in recent years, Alex Lloyd has been in London raising a family and exploring creativity outside of his role as the singer/songwriter come unlikely pop star responsible for Amazing.

 “We've got four kids now and we needed some help from our family so we moved very close to them,” says Lloyd of returning to the New South Wales Central Coast late last year. “I was creative over there but in different ways. I worked on the Mad Bastards soundtrack and did a few other documentaries and things like that.”

Lloyd didn't realise it at the time, but he was also writing his sixth record, Urban Wilderness, a title that summarises the feeling of not knowing what direction to take.

“The weird thing about this new record is that it was written over such a long period of time – five or six years – so I never really sat down and said, 'I'm gonna make a record'. I had about fifteen/sixteen songs and I played them to Shane Nicholson and said: 'What do you think? Do you think we can make this into a record?' And he said, 'Yeah for sure', and that was basically how it happened,” he laughs. “It's quite eclectic; it's definitely more positive than previous records...”

Even so, Urban Wilderness is Lloyd through-and-through, the work of a fine craftsman who has a habit of hitting the emotional sweet spot. Raising around $20,000 via crowdfunding site Pledge Music, Lloyd continued down the independent path started with 2008's Good In The Face Of A Stranger, as much because of a need to maintain creative control as to find out who his fans were.

“For me, I just didn't want to be trapped in a deal anymore, and I also wanted to try and connect with my fan base as my social media skills have been lacking over the years,” he levels. “I think more and more today it comes down to timing – it's not always perfect – and maybe perseverance.”

Lloyd's focus now is on getting back on the road with a full band in tow, something he's missed in recent years.

“This album is a band record, it's not an acoustic one at all, I'm really looking forward to it. Even with my last record, Good In The Face Of A Stranger, which I never really toured in Australia, I'm looking forward to playing a couple of tracks off that as well with a band,” he says, conceding a feeling of slight anxiety as with any new release. “I don't think it's gonna be a chart topper or anything like that but I hope it does well and I can continue playing. If it does well enough that I can do another one then that would be great.”