Alex Cornish: Until the Traffic Stops
This is a joint album and live review, as I managed to get see Alex Cornish live at St-Giles-in-the-Fields church (just behind Denmark St, for those of you in the know) within a day of receiving my copy of his album, Until the Traffic Stops.
The venue itself made quite the impression; I wasn't even aware that it hosted music events at all, but it appears that they regularly put on classical recitals there. Being as Alex and his band were being joined by a string quartet for this gig it certainly seemed an apt setting, as the excessive reverb afforded by churches is rather flattering to strings. Add to this the gaudy gilding of the god-fearing in the subdued light of a nicely-dressed stage (complete with desk lamps and fairylights) and a distinctly partisan crowd, and my expectations for the evening were rather high.
The story behind Alex's album is also quite a nice one. Fed up of being a city-bound desk-jockey, he upped-sticks and moved to an Edinburgh bedsit where he recorded the record all on his lonesome. Following a low key release the record generated far more attention than was expected, including plaudits from Radio 2, XFM and 6 Music, and now Alex's found some management and is re-releasing Until the Traffic Stops.
Sadly I have to report that the gig itself didn't quite live up to the hype. To my ears the mix in the venue was somewhat "off"; what with the string quartet and the nature of the songs it should have been an epic anthem-fest, but for some reason the music always seemed to lack the necessary punch, even when all the performers were properly "rocking out". The muddiness of the mix was to be expected from such an echoic venue, and is ultimately a minor quibble, but I just couldn't escape the fact that the music's full potential wasn't being reached. Coupled with the uncomfortable pews on which we all sat I ended up with rather a dim opinion of the gig. In retrospect it did have its moments, though. The highlight of the show for me was when Alex himself took up a violin and displayed an unexpected aptitude for the thing, and once the band had warmed up the final songs of the set were actually rather engaging.
As for the record, the production values are very high considering it's a bedroom job done by Alex's own hand. Here the more anthemic songs are given full reign to fulfil their potential far more effectively than they managed to at the gig. In fact hearing them in this form leaves me hoping to catch Alex again at a more acoustically flattering venue. Ultimately I think the songs, delivery and production are too polished and MOR than regular readers of this site (and I myself) have a taste for, but I can see him going far. The record's already received a fair amount of attention from Radio 2 (which is in my opinion this album's spiritual home), but if they pick it up properly then I can easily imagine Alex Cornish comfortably gracing coffee tables accross the nation.
Alex Cornish - My Word What a Mess [audio //www.bearfacedrecords.com/EbMBlog_mp3s/AlexCornish/AlexCornish_MyWordWhatAMess.mp3]
Alex Cornish - The King of Hearts [audio //www.bearfacedrecords.com/EbMBlog_mp3s/AlexCornish/AlexCornish_TheKingOfHearts.mp3]