Album Review: Alex Lahey Needs You To Know “I Love You Like A Brother”
Remember Josie And The Pussycats. The cartoon was a color splash of girl power, and the film soundtrack one of the BEST ever made. Both became cultural staples in proving that things made to be “fun” and “silly” can be taken seriously or rather have serious execution. I have reviewed Alex Lahey before, and spoke of her humor and how her sparkling wit moves in both record and performance. Yet, her new album, I LOVE YOU LIKE A BROTHER, is a complete ownership and thus refinement of her ability to be silly, serious, and altogether self-aware.
Alex Lahey – I Haven’t Been Taking Care of Myself (Official Video)
Alright, I did not make that Josie reference for nothing! Tracks like, “Every Day Is The Weekend”, “Lotto In Reverse”, and “Awkward Exchange” will make Lahey remind you vocally and playfully of the cartoon hit-maker, and her ability to make the most random things in your life seem relevant. The way Lahey connects matters of the heart with simple difficulties like getting out of bed, going over a friends house to vent, or creative blocks prove bad days and good days roll in fleeting purpose. Why? Because of how the mind works. Humanity can be very distracted, which is not always a bad thing. In one way, it can prevent you from deepening a relationship with yourself and others, i.e. “I Haven’t Been Taking Care of Myself”, but In another it can be the key to why you are so resilient and self-healing. Our distractions, from hobbies to fun habits, are what keep us smiling when we do not want to, make us do something when we rather not, and keep us going when we prefer to stop. Thus, Lahey’s music has a “going” feeling that cannot be unheard, despite her casual, guitar melodies. Of course, even her most amped tracks such as, “Perth Traumatic Stress Disroder”, carry lax chords, but yet and undercurrent of “there is something I need to do and a place I need to go to!”. In essence, Lahey has stapled the resistance of youth, and made an album that easily displays its ability to get back up even “There’s No Money!” . For however in our heads we may live and swear that each friendship and break-up is “world-rocking”, (“Let’s Call It A Day”), we go about our everyday in an odd ease.
Alex Lahey – Every Day’s The Weekend (Official Video)
I do not know if it is being human or being young, but, sometimes, with all they we carry emotionally, mentally, and literally, I admire how humanity wakes up everyday to live. I do not diminish the strength it takes, but Lahey embraces the fun it offers. Even amongst the madness and the mellow, such as “Backpack”, she sings her tracks like they were ripped from her journal: with a fresh intimacy. To buy I LOVE YOU LIKE A BROTHER is to meet Alex Lahey, and, trust me, you want to! Click Here For More Information On Alex Lahey.
