ALEX VALENTINE is an acoustic singer-songwriter who lives and records in the Welsh mountains after leaving London. ‘A Short Album About Love’ is his third long player. There are twelve songs on the album (which clocks in at just over thirty minutes) which examine love and loss from almost every angle.
The opener, ‘Hurricane’ a slow paced haunting melody immediately made me think that this is not a million miles away from some of Neil Young’s early work. The lyrics are evocative with a plaintive call to his ex “I’ve got to get used, To the terrible truth, That darling you’re long gone, I wish I knew what I did wrong”, pleading to his ex “Can’t we kiss and carry on?” This is a good opening track and highlights Alex’s ability to string together a good melody with lyrics that will strike a chord with almost everyone.
‘Trapdoor’ is a laid-back folk pop song that dwells on one’s hopes for the future within a relationship, mingled with doubts and the potential fear of rejection. “Waiting to fall through the trapdoor in the floor, I believe you love me but you make me feel unsure”. Alex is a performer who is clearly unafraid of showing his feelings and baring his soul.
This is also in evidence in the next couple of tracks ‘Sing a Happy Song’ which deals with a relationship that’s gone wrong and the hope that it will get back on course once again. “Will the aching never cease? Will we lie back in the rye? Will my heart come back to me?” Which is linked to an upbeat pop melody. ‘Ghost’ is much more downbeat “The ghost of our love wakes me in the night, Just to remind me that I’m drowning this time” At this point I began to think that if these songs are indeed autobiographical, that Alex must be the most unlucky bloke on this planet!
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‘Tangled Up In You’ is slightly countrified and certainly comes in just in time to change the tone from being depressing. “And I know something has begun, now I want it to go on, Stretching out like an ocean, it’s said and done, she’s the one.”
‘Golden Valley Girl’ is one of the best tracks on the album, being a classic pop song with Alex’s lyrics once again standing up well. “My Golden Valley Girl dances through me like a whirlwind” and “She’s the bee’s knees to me”.
Closing track ‘Old Man’ ends the album on a slightly sad, whimsical note “I was a young boy when I met you girl, Now I’m an old old man.”
On balance, I liked this album more than I disliked it, however hearing twelve tracks one after the other all dealing with the same subject eventually did cause me to lose interest. Whilst there are no tracks that are really awful, the album is best listened to in more than one sitting.
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