Live Review: Alex Winston 'The Day I Died' EP

Heard of ALEX WINSTON? Maybe, maybe not. She was pepped for big things a few years ago, but her debut album was a bit of a flop, suffering from a dissolving label, poor management and a vocal chord haemorrhage that all struck just at the wrong time. But, like a phoenix rising from her own pile of disappointed ashes, she’s managed to pick herself up, dust herself off and come back with a set of energised, authentic and well-crafted songs.

The Day I Died EP offers three teaser tracks from her upcoming album; we’ve got an off-beat poppy opener, a longing intimate ballad and a spunky feisty number to finish. It seems fair to say that the day Alex Winston died, the day that all her work and expectations for the first album were decimated, was also the day that gave birth to the set of tracks we’re listening to now. Check out the new-wave numbers below:

‘The Day I Died’

With the offbeat claps and the throwback 80s synths, we assume that the opener to the EP is a going to be a fun time feel good one. The first line shows that things aren’t quite so superficial, as Winston sings ‘give me an exorcism, Lord knows I need one’. The claps and synths and feel good fun do in fact continue with the infectious energy of a Disney track, but the intuition and lyricism signal to a songwriter with depth and something to say.

Winston tells us in the hook that ‘I was asleep until the day I died/ joined the assembly line, that I built in my own mind’. It ain’t exactly Disney to be musing an existential crisis framed against a mechanised post-human consumerist world.

Her Paloma Faith-esque vocals gently dip down to minor chords before flying high again at the chorus. The overall production is textbook, but her voice is so gripping and authentic that it brings its own totally unique nuance to what could otherwise be dismissed as indie pop. Yes, this sounds like indie pop, but it also sounds like something honest and meaningful and thoughtful.

‘Down Low’

Track number two is a slow, melancholy ballad. Again, the vocals melodically soar along the upper parts of the track emulating the likes of Kate Bush, all the while anchored by deep rumbling bass and keys. It’s the kind of bleeding love song that will bring a lump to the throats of countless teenage girls. And 23-year old girls, I can’t deny.

Again it’s Winston’s voice that stands out. There’s a crystal clear pitch perfect quality to her singing; ‘Down Low’ could fit seamlessly into the soundtrack for Frozen, but it’s so much cooler than that. Pun utterly intended. With hints of Bjork or the madness of Wings, Winston is something of an anomaly – she makes pop songs, but they’re weird. Her vocals oscillate between sounding like she may have been classically trained at one point, or that she’s kinda just making up her own way of singing. Both are great, and neither matter.

‘Dead End’

Warm 80s synths and raw guitar riffs structure ‘Dead End’, along with a jumped up kick drum that sets the rockier tone for the final track. It’s a carefree, jubilant, come-with-me EP closer, and the catchy repetition of ‘I don’t wanna’ makes you think that this time round Winston really has done it her own way.

The three track EP swells with a feeling of confidence and tentative anticipation but simultaneously opens you up to all the anxiety and loss that Winston’s voice expresses. I think they call that vulnerability. It’s something that has historically been missing from lots of shiny polished pop acts, and it’s this weird, idiosyncratic and vulnerable quality to her music that sets Alex Winston apart. Hopefully this time round, her second shot will bring her the acclaim she so deserves.

Words by Katie Rowley

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