In “Life As We Know It,” the third official single from his latest album Being Myself, Rob Alexander changes things up and goes after the crowd that occupies the dancefloor in what could be described as his most rhythmic effort yet. Alexander applies his signature brand of singing to a previously untried framework in this track, utilizing as much of a swing-driven beat as he does the melodic faceting of a powerhouse piano part to make his statements affective for us, and though he’s admittedly stepping outside of his comfort zone stylistically in “Life As We Know It,” the results of his experimentation are definitely among the more marvelous that I’ve had the pleasure of taking a look at this early spring season.
The percussion in this song isn’t the loudest element in the big picture, but it doesn’t have to be – the beat that it creates is probably what defines both sides of the song more than anything else does. The instrumentation is bound together by the sway of the drums, and while the piano pulls the more eclectic components of the melody into a singular tour de force, that force wouldn’t be nearly as powerful were it not backed by the percussive pulsations running beneath every verse here. Alexander wants us to move our bodies to the rhythm of this latest single, and he essentially pulled out all the stops to make it so that even the most devoted of wallflowers wouldn’t be able to resist this recipe for dance fever.
I would have liked just a little more bass in the grander scheme of things here, but I can understand why Alexander opted to go with more of a stripped-down aesthetic on the backend of “Life As We Know It.” In keeping the bassline in the backdrop, as opposed to giving it more of a throttling presence up front (as many of his mainstream rivals might have done), he’s able to reserve all of the remaining space for the fireworks that his vocal harmony will inevitably unleash close to the climax of the track. It’s a little more complicated than what some newcomers might be used to – especially in the conventionalized world of today’s modern pop beat – but it’s something that doesn’t blend in to the mundane fabric of contemporary music for sure.
Longtime fans of Rob Alexander, as well as those who have never heard his music before now, really can’t afford to miss out on what he’s constructed for us in “Life As We Know It,” which is presently my favorite song from the Being Myself LP. Alexander has done some amazing work in the recording studio over the years, and whether he’s writing songs or practicing medicine (as he does from nine to five in south Florida), he’s made his reputation around always delivering where others would typically fall short. That reputation has never been more fully-intact than it is in this single, and to understand what I’m talking about, I recommend giving it a listen as soon as possible.
Kim Muncie