Singer/songwriter Alex Blizzy has nothing left to prove to the critics with the release of his new album A Step Behind; judging from its freewheeling, completely eclectic content, this record is about letting this acclaimed folk-rock player have a little fun in the studio. Comprised of nine new tracks, each of which feels a bit less pretentious than it should coming from someone of Blizzy’s pedigree, A Step Behind invites us along for a rollercoaster ride of rhythm and rhyme, and for all that it lacks in mainstream frills it more than compensates us for in sheer originality and introspective poetic substance.
WEBSITE: https://alexblizzy.com/
I dig the physicality of the instrumentation in “Culture King,” “These Footsteps” and even the softer “Love on Paper,” and while it doesn’t rival what some of the surreal pop players have been coming up with in the American underground this spring, I don’t believe it was ever meant to. Blizzy isn’t hiding the fact that he’s willing to embrace some cerebral influences similar to those his contemporaries are, but as is the case with any vet over the incoming class of talent, he’s got a lot more self-control in his decision-making.
In all honesty, I probably would have pushed the title cut and “Drinking Town” deeper into the tracklist rather than starting off the album with them as Blizzy did in this instance, but other than that the overall flow of the record is nice, and almost on the same level as what you can expect to hear in any live performance a player of his caliber is to give. He’s never trying to merge elements that don’t belong together in the material so much as he’s experimenting with hybrids and how much mileage he can get out of them while still keeping a little Americana in the mix, and that’s a venture I can respect as a critic.
While this is probably the most polished album Alex Blizzy could have released from a
producer’s perspective, it neither feels oversaturated in synthesized gloss nor piled high with more bells and whistles than the audience would likely know what to do with. There aren’t any overblown guitar solos and silly drum breakdowns that protrude into the simple vocal harmonies on “Never Felt Better;” we’re not spending time with a fireworks show
in A Step Behind, but instead taking in some personal commentary from a songwriter thinking back on the long road traveled with a pleasant grin.
If you’ve yet to hear his work before now and have been looking for a reason to get into it, Alex Blizzy’s A Step Behind is an LP that I’d grab for your collection before this late spring has met its expiration. Blizzy is unrestrained and unapologetically at ease with his medium in this record, and as strange as it might seem – or right on track with the overarching theme of 2023 – that’s not as easy to come by as it once was in contemporary pop music.
Heather Savage
