Steve Alex’s excellent, acoustic soft-rock album Never Heavy Is One Full of Light likely owes a lot of its strengths to Alex being a veteran of the music industry since the nineties. This was a time when the squeaky-clean, corporate-controlled glamazons currently dominating the charts were considered boy band material, rock still ruled the radio slots, and people appreciated great art with commercial prowess, if a little more than the cutthroat natures of today. Alex truly embodies the concept of the modern artist.
He comes off as a little unhinged, like the greats of the seventies, while balancing this quirkiness with commercial smarts regarding the targeted choir. These days, the choir needs a good song, Alex finally living up to a lot of broken and false promises on that front. Never Heavy Is One Full of Light has this immensely emotive, free vibe to it. The fact the production value is pared down, polished but still a little rough around the edges showcases Alex’s natural talent as a musician and songwriter. There’s no electronic beats or mixes to save him from earnest scrutiny of his talents. This likely is because in part Alex’s performances come from a deeply personal place, and personal creative convictions.
This sort of earnestness pervades every track, feeling less like anything phoned in for the greater good, and more an insanely elaborate, thought-out, and carefully procured musical experiment. It’s unusual to listen to an album cover to cover and feel like it’s a genuine experience, not something starting off strong or getting there, sans a few hiccups, a few pacing issues, or worse creative overkill and an overemphasis on production value at the expense of authenticity. Like any sort of entertainment, paraphrasing Hurwitz, he who makes the gold makes the rules. He who has the gold typically doesn’t have his finger on the pulse of the consumer’s innate attractions. By going independent, Alex is able to tap into these impulses with far less to encumber him.
In a V13 Media article titled Interview with Universal Dropout frontman Steve Alex, Alex would reaffirm these insights about his creative process, confirming aforementioned insights with the following quote. “…songwriting comes in waves,” he stated. “When I get on a roll, I can write something every day. Not that what I write every day is ALL good, but a lot of it will stick. Then, on the other side of the coin, I can also go for months without a single new melody. Sometimes, after a lot of time has passed since I’ve written, I’ll force myself to start working on something, and that will lead to a new wave of creativity which can last for a couple of weeks. Nowadays it’s hard to find the time to stay fully active with songwriting.
I used to write more regimented, almost like I was on the clock. With my family, and the bands that I am in playing live shows all the time and the day job, it’s sometimes hard to stay focused.”
Kim Muncie