Crazy Days is the brand new album by Your Man Alex Smith (YMAS) that is set to be released to the public on the 1st of March. YMAS, a local Brisbane artist, describes his music as Indie Folk Rock Pop and has been floating around the Brisbane music scene for over 2 years. His most recent success was performing an acoustic set at the Elephant Hotel based in Fortitude Valley, playing to over 100 people. He captured the audience's attention almost immediately when he opened the night off with "Your Light" and continued to hold their undivided attention through to the close of his official set with "Where I'm going" however the audience weren't done with him yet. He was then called back on to stage to play a two song encore (a first for the Elephant Hotel) where he chose "Anyway You Like It" and "Feel".
If anyone as seen a performance by Your Man Alex Smith they will be able to tell you it's quite an intimate experience, usually just Mr Smith on stage with an acoustic guitar in his hand. While this image of Alex is one that people have grown to love it's not the only aspect of YMAS. For this album Alex has decided to veer away from the acoustic settings that his performances hold and take his audience on a magic journey to a whole new world of the pop scene. Some people my criticise Alex for this choice claiming that he is trying to "sell out" to get radio play. This writer disagrees, I see this as an opportunity to show people that he is more than just a man with a guitar, he's an artist who can move freely between styles. It begins with one of Alex's best known songs, "Tragedy" then moving on to the fans favourite ballad "Gingerbread Man". This is followed by "Dream Girl", a song that screams to be played on the radio. "Dream Girl" opens with woah's that will get stuck in your head for weeks before going into a punchy verse. The end of "Dream Girl" has some wonderful vocal layers to finish the song in the most beautiful way possible. Next on the album is a slow song titled "Tell Me A Lie" this is filled to the brim with beautiful vocal harmonies to create a wonderful bitter-sweet love song. The album officially ends with the most beautiful song yet "Where I'm Going", a piano ballad that can bring up the deepest emotions in even the most critical listener. The song starts off softly then builds to an epic finish. At this stage you would believe that Alex has finished with you but much to my surprise the 5 track EP as a little Easter egg. If you purchase the entire album you're able to listen to an acapella version of "Lie To Me". As a personal perference I much prefer the acapella version to the original, there is just something haunting about the song with no backing tracking.
The EP - Crazy Days, available from his bandcamp yourmanalexsmith.bandcamp.com from the 1st of march, is a 5 track EP. It goes through the many styles from bouncy pop hits to epic ballads and everything in between. It follows the usual pop theme of love, with each song being able to relate to some point of a relationship from falling in love through to breaking up.
If you'd like to be able to see Your Man Alex Smith live he will be launching his EP at the Zoo on the 1st of march. Tickets are available from https://zoo.oztix.com.au/Default.aspx?Event=41400
