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Alex Cole - Carolina True This is a genuinely organic productions at all levels, in terms of the music, production, and the CD. The funny thing is many a major label artist has spent huge amounts of money trying to package a CD with this level of cool, amateur intimacy. They also probably spend more money on the Starbucks coffee for the graphic designer during the initial consultation, than Alex spent on getting a run of CDs together.  So what do you get for your $5, postage included - someone needs to point Mr. Cole towards CDBaby - well you get an excellent little 5 track EP, that spans about 17 minutes, and showcases a genuine songwriting talent. Catchy, folky, intimate, and dreamy. Not an easy concoction to brew.The opener is title track, 'Carolina True', a simple sweet, almost haunting love song. It is not ground breaking, but it is also far from clichéd. An excellent opener, and a tune that lodges itself in your head on the very first listen. Next is the jazzier, bluesier 'Strange'. Lyrically it is very interesting, Alex writes words that obviously mean something to him, and doesn't worry about shoe-horning them into a format that will seamlessly fit into the music. 'Holly' is a more up-tempo, more rock tune, kind of like a stripped down, simpler 'Wallflowers'. A sweet little tune, that could probably be tweaked, and teased into something genuinely radio friendly. 'Louis & Me', is a downbeat entry, which in just a handful of lines, tells a very vivid story. It is a decent song, but on an EP as short as this, it is hard to pull off a tune of this nature, as by definition it drags things down. Might have been better off saving it for the full length album that is sure to follow. We end with 'By My Side', another song that showcases his lyrical skill. It reads like a random section from a novel. It is a nice way to round off the collection. Alex is obviously a genuine, raw talent. If there was any justice, a label would snap him up, and give him the time and money to develop his style, and find musical collaborators to help round out his visions into complete, complex songs. Of course there is no justice, but I fully intend to keep an eye on Mr. Cole, there may be big things ahead. |
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