Evelyn's Echo: Alex Riddle's Liberated Alt-Rock Odyssey in Grace - Act One
Alex Riddle's writing style continues to be characterized by a sense of urgency that restricts his emotional processing and creative expression; however, with the release of Evelyn's first single, from Grace - Act One, he has been liberated from this limitation. As a result, he has been able to create and convey his emotions through music, as exemplified by a mellow track that features delicate acoustic guitar melodies that represent some of our greatest memories, which build into an intense chorus similar to those found in early alternative rock bands like Jeff Buckley and Oasis. These tracks are likely to resonate with fans.
Alex Riddle is an artist who grew up in Houston. He has an extraordinary talent for songwriting, performing and producing. All of Alex's music is created at home; his latest single “Evelyn” is the first single released after he began producing all of his music this way. Alex produces all of the instruments played on this track (except the drums). His best friend Joseph Tracy provided the drum parts. The sound of the drums fit very well with the guitar sound and create the sound of a classic rock record but with high quality studio production. As the guitars build throughout the track, there becomes an anticipation for the chorus that will be released when it arrives. Riddle wrote and performed the vocals, and produced nearly all of the music that is included in this track. While this may appear to be a DIY project, Riddle obviously took the necessary time and care to produce a high-quality recording. Riddle smoothed out any rough edges before completing this project so that he could professionally express his musical ideas.
Though the song's lyrics deal with complexes of obsession and heartache through the story of “Evelyn" - an allegory of the typical hero’s journey - the song does not come across as melodramatic. In fact, although the protagonist appears to be running from the heartache he feels, he continuously finds himself being pulled back into it again and again due to the name of the person he has continually been drawn to, "Evelyn," and due to the way that he has continually run away from that same heartbreak every time he hears that name.
The sound quality and arrangements featured in “Evelyn" are nothing short of world-class; the recording was engineered and recorded by John Allen Stephens; manipulating and sculpting the recorded sounds were performed by Grammy-winning winner Joel Hamilton; and Adam Ayan mixed and mastered the entire recording. These three individuals produced a recording that is of the highest audiophile quality; this is demonstrated in a whether the sound is a true representation of the alt-rock era that the song represents (which is quite edgy and punk), or it has the flavour of an old-fashion sound (akin to the burning of metal and smoking cigarettes).
Listening to the EP "Grace - Act One," it is evident that the tone of the release is significantly different than what has been previously released by Riddle. Previous to "Grace - Act One", there have been several musical releases by Riddle, but "Grace - Act One" has been produced with the intent to blow away the listener's expectations through a full-on assault. The song "Evelyn" serves as the launching point, the first salvo, and is a harbinger of things to come. It is not subtle; it is unapologetically loud!