Alex Rex + Victor Herrero

When:
October 16, 2021 @ 8:30 pm – 11:00 pm
2021-10-16T20:30:00+01:00
2021-10-16T23:00:00+01:00
Where:
The Tin At The Coal Vaults
Canal Basin
St Nicholas Street, Coventry
CV1 4LY
Cost:
£9.05
Contact:
02476 230 699

CHANGE OF VENUE

Please note that this show was originally booked to take place at The Edge in Birmingham & will now take place at The Tin at The Coal Vaults in Coventry.

 

ALEX REX

Singing drummers may now be in vogue, but very few combine the masterful musicianship, vivid lyrics and expressive vocals one experiences with Alex Rex. In fact, few musicians have a CV as impressive as band leader Alex Neilson. He’s drummed with some of the most eclectic musicians of the international underground; from Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy to Shirley CollinsJandek and Current 93. All on top of a 10-year stint with his own critically acclaimed psych-folk outfit, Trembling Bells.

Paradise is his fourth album as Alex Rex. Whilst the first three were shrouded in loss and loathing, Paradise is a different beast. In many ways Paradise marks a fresh start for the Glasgow-based polymath. Reunited with ex-Trembling Bells vocalist Lavinia Blackwall for the first time since the band’s demise – Marco Rea (Euros Childs) and regular collaborator Rory Haye make up the rest of the Paradise party, with guest vocalist Kacy Lee Anderson (Kacy & Clayton) blowing a seductive smoke-ring through one track. Paradise introduces us to a new and uncharacteristically playful side of Alex Rex.

“As a songwriter I have felt an increasing certainty that I must have something important to say. Some illumination on the basic nature of things. Some cue card where aphorism and aphrodisiac meet” explains Neilson. He used to look to landscapes to derive inspiration, attempting to render a sonic description of the heart-flutters felt while walking through majestic nature. Nowadays, almost certainly induced by the introspective nature of a life in lockdown, Neilson has turned the telescope in on himself. “Looking to internal landscapes for creative sustenance. The Lake Districts of shame… the Peak Districts of desire” he offers. “Using my own personality as a testing ground for poetically maladjusted insights”.

Neilson can navigate the kosmische orbits of Richard Youngs, find the free music floating in Alasdair Roberts’ traditionally styled songs, and conjure a stadium-sized folk-rock band that never was in the shape of Trembling Bells. But Paradise reminds us that he is also a master-of-composition in the classic sense, an astounding lyricist and a kick ass drummer. Alex Rex are in the anxiety business… and business is booming. Paradise is due to be released on July 30th via Neolithic Recordings.

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