Alex McEwan: Beautiful Lies

• Released: March 2005
• Rating: 10/10

Pitched somewhere in the mid-Atlantic, with more than a hint ofAmericana, this gorgeous offering should appeal to both sides of the pond – andbeyond.

Scotland’s very own Alex McEwan, releases a debut album full ofmaturity, and promise for a glowing musical career. His songwriting skillsare finely honed. McEwan has done his fair share of learning histrade, busking in a novel approach on the tube trains in London, and aroundEurope, and gigging in Nashville and Los Angeles, where he teamed up withBeach Boys collaborator Lou Natkin who helped with a demo and start thisalbum, on his own label.

McEwan has the knack of incorporating emotivemelancholy with hope: magically entangled with melodic choruses. It’s not alldoom and gloom, as Summer Of Life bounces along in dreamy fashion, as he‘she boops’ along. He digs deep into his repertoire gushing out lyrics thatare direct and to the point – there’s nothing cryptic here: the message isplain and simple.

Thankfully, it avoid fads and trends pursued in thesynthetic pop pantomime, and not a hint of production trickery. From thestart, a pacey Make A Wave, to finish, it oozes quality and, stylebut above all-timeless class. Parallels can,on occasion be drawn with earlyEagles and Sting’s vocals on Beautiful Lies. Top drawer musicianship brings pedalsteel, acoustic guitars, saxophone, piano, violins and harmonica, scatteredacross 13 outstanding tracks. There’s also some pretty impressive vocals onthe odd song by Nicki Lamborn, e.g. Run Away.

If he’s being tagged alongside contemporaries such as David Gray and DamienRice, then it’s to his credit, but McEwan is streets ahead of them both, anddeserves to be nationally and internationally recognised, with the plauditsbeing just around the corner.

As beautiful She Must Be Crazy is, and thedebut single out on March 14th, I think either The River Runs Deep or SummerOf Life would have been a better choice, but there’s plenty of time forthose to surface. It’s destined to be a great year for the Alex McEwanbecause, the beautiful truth about Beautiful Lies is, that it’s a stunningdebut. It’s due for release towards the end of March 2005.

Catch him live in 2005:

• Fri 14 Jan – The Stables,Milton Keynes (TBC)
• Thurs 18 Jan – The Cobden Club,London
• Wed 19 Jan – The Bedford, Balham,London
• Thurs 27 Jan – Bush Hall,London
• Sat 5 Feb – Caledonian Backpackers 3,Queensferry St,Edinburgh
• Mon 7 Feb – 13th Note Café,Glasgow (TBC)
• Thurs 10 Feb – Club Clear at the 12 Bar Club,London