Lexytron recently released her first album, ‘Something Blue’, it is eclectic, exciting, electrifying, emotional and exceptional! Manchester-born Lexy describes herself as “Half Greek, half Persian, and half English”, she now lives in New Zealand. The album was recorded in London with Mike Grice of Manchester’s City Reign and mixed and mastered by London-based producer Marco Meloni. It encapsulates everything that a perfect blend of pop and rock should. There are riffs aplenty, earworm hooks and melodies, and superb vocals from Lexy who seems to be able to sing in an incredible range of styles. It is an album that straddles many styles and is proud of its quirkiness, moving from dreamy chill to hard riffing. This is most definitely a genre-defying album which is all the better for that defiance!
The swathe of synth that opens the album on “Blackmail” quickly moves forward with a dubby bass worthy of Jah Wobble before settling into a harmonic post-punk masterpiece. Like the GoGos on mind-altering substances. Lexy’s vocals are upbeat while at the same time suggesting real darkness as expressed in the lyrics. Perhaps the poppiest song on this record is the quirky but magnificent “I’m Not A Disco”, a song that in a parallel universe would win the Eurovision Song Contest with maximum points, even if it was the UK entry. This track deserves to be a chart mega-hit and is the kind of song that you could not remain seated for in a club. The chorus is something that I reckon Sparks would be proud of. The current single “Blue” has a great melody and Lexy’s voice sounds raw, frail, and passionate, a little like Patti Smith in her more reflective moments. It fits perfectly with a luscious love song that is all about love and loss. It is accompanied by a simple and very effective video shot at New Zealand’s Lake Pukaki and featuring just a head and shoulders take of Lexy doing the vocals. She scores highly for the David Bowie T-shirt she wears in the film too (the girl has great taste), I have the same Bowie shirt! “Couples” draws on some of the best of 70s and 80s soul, funk, and disco songs, especially the bass line and syncopated clapping and the vocals are reminiscent of Sophie Ellis Bextor.
Lexy gets very punky on “Intermittent” like early Blondie and the Bangles at their best. If this had of been released in the late 70s it would have been all over the radio. If the Strokes lost a bit of the misery and adopted a female vocalist they might sound a little like this. There is a much more acoustic feel to “21.5” and Lexy’s voice oozes emotion, it feels like a barbed takedown of someone. A former lover maybe? The piano is the only instrument, other than vocals, on “The Veil Of Veronica” which is the closest to a proper ballad on this collection. It sounds like something that a young Kate Bush might have put together, particularly the vampish backing vocals. “In The Box” takes us back to a post-punk power pop style like Siouxsie Sioux singing a lost Marc Bolan lyric with its references to wizards, joker, beauty, and the beast. A dance remix of “Brand New” would be something special. Lyrics are bordering on psychedelic at times and there is happiness oozing from Lexy’s singing here. The penultimate track on the album is “Tell The Vein” is a song about trying to heal old emotional wounds, but how do we heal a heart that is broken. This is close to a true power ballad but without Celine Dionesque histrionics. Album closer “Gypsy Blue” ends the record on a happy and strangely weird level in which Lexy seems to be channeling the Greek part of her heritage with a sliver of Berlin 30s cabaret. This diverse and expert journey through so many genres which remains strangely apposite is a marvellously magical menagerie of sound and one hell of a debut album. Can I see Lexytron live now, please?
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