Though his first single "To Move On" featured Los Angeles singer/songwriter Alex Izenberg prominently on piano, I've always assumed (mostly through his work on other projects/bands) that guitar was Izenberg's main instrument. "Grace" however offers up more of Izenberg at the piano and the results are positively stunning. Where "To Move On" flirted with pop conventions, "Grace" finds Izenberg with the spirit of a balladeer. Izenberg keeps his piano melodies simple while the arrangements get much of the flourish - cycling between pizzicatos and scene-stealing legato moments.
Where "To Move On" bounced jauntily to its own cathartic declarations of closure, "Grace" finds Izenberg once again in the route of romantic disappointment. Izenberg keeps his lyrics sparse but offers up the important parts of the narrative without affect. "The darkness had taken over me/Once I see her engagement ring" Izenberg croons with a pitch perfect air of melancholy. Much of the drama of his heartbreak is provided musically - the sweeping strings, the slight jar of how his chords hit.
It's composition is so natural that it's hardly surprising that for its video, that Izenberg and directors Nick and Juliana Giraffe (the same team behind Izenberg's "To Move On" video), opted for a straight forward performance of the track. It's gorgeously shot in beautiful church, softly lit and with the strings accompanying a piano bound Izenberg in the background.
Some elements of the song's recorded form - namely its weirder, more experimental leaning electronic effects are gone but so too are its layer - its glockspiel, its vocal harmonies and the like are missing here but the effect is the same; revealing Izenberg's talents as songwriter in their purest form. It's enough to get me properly excited for the rest of Izenberg's debut and its songs that find similar inspiration in life's myriad of troubles.
Alex Izenberg's debut full length Harlequin is out November 18th on Weird World. You can pre-order the album here.
No comments:
Post a Comment