There isn’t much that Rob Alexander isn’t willing to experiment with when it comes to making a strong emotional point in his music, and his new single “Yesterday’s News” sees him grabbing hold of a beat like never before. There have been plenty of songs where Alexander has made love to the microphone, christened a harmony with rich piano and guitar melodicism, but few where he’s worked the groove as hard as he does here. He’s letting the rhythm of the music enrapture us much as a lyric would and sounding much more controlled and on-point than many of his peers would with the same track.
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You can’t deny that this singer/songwriter takes a lot of influence from the classic pop/rock of the 1970s and 80s, but much of the aesthetical foundations you might have heard in previous releases has been replaced in “Yesterday’s News” with a stronger soul bend to both the music and his vocal than I was originally expecting. Rob Alexander gets real with the harmonies here and doesn’t mind spreading out the catharsis in his hook as far as he can run it, which is often something his contemporaries just don’t dare to try – and for good reason, of course.
Alexander jumps on this chorus like he’s catching the last train home at the end of a long winter’s night, but his eagerness to reach the summit of the song doesn’t end up taking us towards an inefficient climax. Both this track and “Look out Below” have some structural hurdles for even the most talented of singers to try and grapple with, but he doesn’t attempt any over-the-top virtuosity with his voice. He’s got some urgency behind his verses, but this is a singer who can stay calm and relaxed in even the highest pressure of arrangements.
I love the raw presentation of the material in Dream out Loud, and it’s made me even more interested in hearing how Rob Alexander sounds in a live performance. He comes across as very off-the-cuff in songs like “Yesterday’s News” and “Game Over,” and I think he would carry forth much of the same presence he has here onto the stage if put in front of a receptive audience. If this player can work a crowd as well as he can a beat, then it likely goes without saying that he’s going to be around in this business for ages more to come.
Impressive per the norm for this discography, Rob Alexander comes to the studio ready to do some serious work in “Yesterday’s News,” and I think this song is going to become a fan favorite over time. It’s already one of the strongest listens in Dream out Loud, and better yet, it pulls together some of the more eclectic artistic themes in the record in one singular place. If you can’t get into this track, you might not be an Alexander fan – but, even with that said, you’re probably going to like this single if you’re a fan of melodic soft rock with a freewheeling creative edge.
Heather Savage
