2019 has been a really excellent year for adult contemporary artists, and few know that better than Dr. Rob Alexander, whose new single “Never Gonna Let You Go” and album Being Myself are lighting up the underground this fall like nobody’s business. “Never Gonna Let You Go” is a pretty simplistic power ballad that comes to us in the simmered-down drawl of Alexander’s bittersweet serenade, and while it’s on par with most everything that he’s released up until this point in his career, it provides us some interesting clues to what he’s going to be doing in the future. He’s not selling out his tonality for a major label marketing blueprint in this single; instead, he rewards his fans with a performance worthy of his respected moniker.
The bassline in this song is super textured but not bloated at all – partly because of the urbane master mix and partly because of the stylization of the arrangement. The mix is meticulously structured as to keep the vocal at the forefront of all the action, but the bassline is never too far away; in some respects, its cushioning of the lyrical lashings makes the exquisite depth of emotion in the words all the more tangible to us. Had it not been as carefully constructed as it was, I don’t know that “Never Gonna Let You Go” would feel quite as cinematic as it does in this capacity (though I can’t imagine it not retaining the creative value it’s got in spades at any rate).
DEEZER: https://www.deezer.com/us/album/116777192
Production quality aside, “Never Gonna Let You Go” has really good bones that could absolutely be adapted if Alexander saw fit. His voice supports all of the other instruments beautifully, and there’s scarcely a moment in the track where his part is not the most provocative of any within our aural reach. He could rerecord this acoustically, as strictly a vocal number, or even with a more powerful rock beat, and it would still have an emotional hue that you just don’t find everyday when looking for new independent music, and if that isn’t enough to stoke the interest of audiences everywhere this November, I honestly can say that I don’t know what else could.
Pop fans both young and old alike cannot go wrong with the new single from Rob Alexander, which serves as a perfect gateway into his sound without overstating any of the creative faceting that he’s become so well-known for in recent times. If Being Myself is an affirmation of who Alexander is in the studio, “Never Gonna Let You Go” is its most defining moment, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were to become one of the more popular songs in his whole discography. He’s come a long way in a relatively short amount of time (at least relevant to the music industry in general), and if this track gets into regular rotation on the mainstream level before the years is out, there would be no reason to believe that Rob Alexander’s profile won’t be elevated as 2020 starts to come into focus.
Jodi Marxbury