Introducing: ALECS / EP Review: The Fulham Tapes

ALECS the fulham tapes

Young British talent ALECS presents debut EP

Most of you might not yet have heard of him, but that is probably going to change quite soon. ALECS is a young and exciting new British artist that is on the edge of a breakthrough early next year. He will release his new EP, The Fulham Tapes, on the 27th of January, but he already put the tracks on his Soundcloud page for us to have a listen. He also recorded a video for the single ‘Give It Up’ and I have to hand it to him: he already has his own fresh, electronic style and the quality of the songs is definitely impressive for a first release of a brand new artist.

Alex Treharne, ALECS’ real name, was born and raised in West-London and grew up with rock/pop music from the 60’s and 70’s. Recently, the young artist started focusing on the new generation of alternative R&B artists, like Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, who inspired his first EP. He also cites Autre Ne Veut and Blood Orange as influences. For his first EP, he worked on the production himself, together with Eddy Atlantis (Xander The Great). This results in an electronic, synth heavy, dark type of R&B mixed with pop, full of heavy beats and beautiful, distinctive vocals.

ALECS shows he knows how to write and produce tracks with an interesting production that at the same time deliver a straightforward and catchy hook in the choruses. In terms of sound and lyrical content, ‘Grave’ is the darkest track out of the three, but still the ‘And now you are dancing on a grave’-hook settles in your mind quite easily. On ‘Whole’, ALECS experiments with vocal effects which adds to the fresh sound of the song. The repetition of the words ‘whole again’ is catchy and I could imagine this track being played on the radio regularly. ALECS definitely shows his full potential on the first single ‘Give It Up’. The production is smashing and the powerhouse chorus immediately leaves a big impression. His vocals are outstanding and full of emotion. He shows he knows how to get across the message of the song with his voice very well. The video for ‘Give It Up’, which was filmed in only three hours, is simple but effective. We see close-ups from ALECS in black and white from different points of view and with various sets of lights. It matches the dark sound of the song perfectly. With this EP as his debut, ALECS definitely proves he is one to watch in 2014.

https://soundcloud.com/alecsmusic/sets/the-fulham-tapes