2020 wasn’t much of a year for dance tracks, and all things considered, why would it be? Without much reason for busting a move, a lot of artists retreated into the poetic mundane, while others like Rob Alexander dared to keep dreaming and cultivating the music and moves we’d need when reaching the light at the end of a long tunnel.
Alexander’s new single is titled “Instant Sex,” and if you haven’t heard it yet, this May might be the right month to give it a spin. Between the acerbic tone of the performance we get out of its lead singer and the fluidity of the beats that back up its lyrical bite, there’s a lot to get excited about with “Instant Sex,” and best of all, it’s not coming to us from an overly-commercialized source, but someone who is verifiably independent of the mainstream market. This is cut-loose, feel-good dance music with a pop center that is equally intellectually rebellious and cosmetically bold, and as much as I would like to wish for that to be a common combination to find in 2021, this just simply isn’t the case (and this singer knows it).
Alexander’s vocal is tucked between the bassline and the percussion rather than placed atop the two backend components, not only to force us deeper into the groove than originally anticipated, but to create some additional depth in the master mix that might not have been here otherwise. There’s a lot of chemistry between the band and their frontman, but I don’t think it’s ever hard to tell who and what we’re supposed to be focusing our attention on in this release. Even though it has moments of fitting in with a lot of the soundtrack you’d get at the club, “Instant Sex” still has the sort of personality to its lyrics that make me feel like this is a lot more personal a single than it would have us believe based on surface-level frills alone. The confidence formed by the bassline’s bludgeoning swing is fantastically urbane, but almost everything else around it feels contemplative in the chorus of the song. This lends room for multiple interpretations of what Alexander is really trying to get across to us here, which isn’t a dismissal of his focus but instead a compliment towards his aesthetical whimsy.
It has probably been said by other critics in the past, but I’m going to say it again – there aren’t enough players like Rob Alexander running the game these days, and a lot of up and coming singers and songwriters might be able to learn something about how to operate a proper solo venture from taking just a cursory examination of what he’s accomplished in “Instant Sex.” His skillset in this performance speaks to what listeners can get out of almost every song on his new album Dream out Loud, and if you don’t believe me for yourself I would recommend spending some time with the LP the next time you have the chance to acquire it.
Jodi Marxbury