FEATURE:
Spotlight
Alex Amor
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AN artist I would love to interview one day…
Alex Amor is a stunning talent who is going to be among our very best artists. Her Love Language E.P, released last year, is tremendous. I predict that, as she releases more E.P.s and an album, we will see her tour the world and hook up with some of the biggest artists of the time. It would be reductive to label Amor’s music simply as Pop. Although there is an accessibility and spirit to the music that lifts you up, she is an artist who has so much depth and variety. There are a lot of terrific artists rising and coming through right now. The Glasgow-raised, London-based artist is one of the strongest and most promising I have heard in a very long time. I am doing things a little roundabout. Before coming to a few interviews – where we can discover more about the wonderful Alex Amor -, there was a lot of love (rightfully so!) for her E.P., Love Language. SNACK provided their impressions on a remarkable E.P. that stands up to repeated listens:
“Perfectly produced with swagger and sincerity to match, Alex Amor’s Love Language is an ode to the romantic tribulations of youth. Amor, who is 23 and from Glasgow, worked alongside Derbyshire-based DJ Karma Kid to craft this ethereal and majestic piece of alt-pop.
Love Language explores the progression of relationships, from their blissful beginnings to their fractious ends – it’s as relatable as it is playful. The EP’s title track – a reference to Gary Chapman’s book The Five Love Languages, which discusses how humans can show affection in relationships – sees Amor dissect her own failed romance through a series of light-hearted juxtapositions. It is fun and familiar, but with an RnB twist; a style which clearly comes naturally as a result of Amor’s background in poetry, as does her love for the syncopation of rap.
The coming-of-age narrative which predominates on Love Language relates as much to Amor herself as it does her relationships with others. ‘I am a woman struggling for autonomy’, she states. ‘I’m moving into adulthood and desperately trying to make sense of its complexities’.
This inner struggle is particularly apparent on ‘Motion’. Great care is taken to ensure that the instrumentation is kept minimal so as not to overwhelm the delicate lyric. ‘It’s me who got it wrong / I don’t know when to let things go’, Amor laments, before coming to terms with her situation. It’s not all doom and gloom.
Amor expresses personal experiences and feelings using her songs as vehicles of connection. It’s almost uncanny for someone so young. She says: ‘I am speaking directly to people from the heart. There’s an overarching theme of positivity in my music, the idea that it’s okay if things aren’t okay but there’s always hope that things will get better’. This sentiment extends far beyond the literal subject matter of Love Language and appeals to the more general human condition: we want to be loved, we want to be reassured, and we want to be excited. It’s safe to say Alex Amor is capable of creating moods where the listener is free to feel all three.
Love Language, much like a fleeting adolescent romance, is short but oh so sweet. It packs in everything from effect-laden soundscapes to sparse, airy ballads, and even includes some contextual swearing for good measure. At times it feels a little like poetry set to music, but this and its conversational feel are also what makes it fresh.
In an international pop world brimming with opulent, exclusionary, bourgeoise bluster, Alex Amor is speaking an engaging and honest modern language”.
Even though she is young and making her first statements, the promising is definitely there. Launching into the music world at a time when the pandemic was gripping, I am not sure what Alex Amor would have thought about the future and whether her music would get the audience it deserves! It must have been strange and stressful releasing an E.P. during the pandemic. Though things are not over. Gigs are returning, and she is able to get her music to the masses. Her fanbase online is growing. Whilst most of her following is on Instagram, her Twitter numbers are growing. If you have not followed Alex Amor, go and do so! It is worth getting some background and information about a wonderful artist. NOTION chatted with Amor in December 2020. We learn about some of her first musical loves and experiences:
“23-year-old Glaswegian newcomer Alex Amor has only released three songs to date and she’s already secured a spot at next year’s Great Escape Festival.
Debut single “The Part With Each Other”, an airy, harmonised alt-pop number about the first flush of romance, only dropped this year, and was then followed up by “Prove Me Right”, a more cynical number about modern dating. Now, Alex has shared her new single “Motion”, another tune reflecting on her life’s experiences, wrapped up in a foot-tapping beat.
All three songs will be featured on Alex’s upcoming debut EP, ‘Love Language’, set for release in January next year.
Produced with Karma Kid, the EP documents the highs and lows of a relationship as it progresses from the first youthful infatuation to the inevitable demise. “This EP reflects a recent time of my life where I am a woman struggling for autonomy. I’m moving into adulthood and I’m desperately trying to make sense of its complexities. Though there’s no happy resolve at the end of the EP, I feel more self-assured than ever, more me than
I’ve ever been”, Alex said of the project.
PHOTO CREDIT: James O'Donohoe
First song you wrote?
I reckon I was around 11 when the songwriting curiosity kicked in. The first song I wrote, I never actually wrote down because the lyrics changed every time I sang it. It was called ‘Take me on a Trip’ and the highlight of the song’s short life span was performing it at my annual flute camp, at the end of the week talent show.
First CD you owned?
I can quite vividly remember pressing play on my baby pink CD player and rocking out to “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne. ‘Folklore’ by Nelly Furtado was the first CD I bought with pocket money.
First time you were starstruck?
The closest I’ve been to being starstruck was when I saw Lana Del Rey live in concert when I was 15. There was a full orchestra and the whole concert felt quite otherworldly, as did she
First time you wanted to give up?
I guess I’ve never really given up. I did stop taking music as seriously when I went to university to study textile design. I tried to do the whole normal life thing but it didn’t last long. Music was always there in the back of my mind even when I wasn’t doing it. I got a lot of life experience during those years that I still take inspiration from to this day so I don’t regret it at all. When I started fully committing to pursuing music, that was when things started to align”.
There are a couple of other interviews that I want to explore before wrapping up. I love the fact Alex Amor set up a studio in a cupboard under the stairs at her parents’ house in 2018. She spent two months in creative self-isolation and used technology to work remotely with producers. That determination and focus is paying off. Such a memorable talent with a very long future ahead, there are albums and artists that inspire her. When she spoke with Beats Per Minute in 2021, Amor discussed some records that are important to her. I have chosen a couple of them as a highlight:
“Scottish indie-pop artist Alex Amor releases her debut EP Love Language today; a five-track set that shows a surprisingly defined musical personality and bravery for someone on their first body of music. Diving headlong into emotional entanglements, dating disappointments and intimate trails of thought, Amor makes a captivating and amusing singer and lyricist. Aided by simply stylish production, Love Language heralds an artist who should be slipping her way into many people’s playlists this year.
Of course, we wanted to know about her influences, those songwriters who’ve helped guide her path to this point. In her On Deck, Amor tells us about four particularly luminary artists that have helped her escape, provoked new ideas and, ultimately, been there for her when she needed them.
Corinne Bailey Rae – Corinne Bailey Rae
[Capitol; 2006]
One of my favourite albums from childhood is Corinne Bailey Rae’s self-titled album. The songwriting on every song is nothing short of exquisite. I remember as a young girl getting lost in her world of calming vocals and raw production that perfectly complimented the music. It’s an album that pushes your emotions to either end of the scale – there’s moments of elation and then times of desperate longing and melancholy like on “Choux Pastry Heart”. I was 10 when I heard this record, daydreaming of what it was like to fall for a boy and perplexed at the emotional rollercoaster that is love.
Kali Uchis – Isolation
[Rinse/Virgin EMI; 2018]
Isolation is one of my favourite albums of the past five years. Kali Uchis has a way of shape shifting genres on every track yet manages to sound entirely like herself. I love artists that merge old with new and Uchis does just that. The track “After The Storm” seems to fit the current feeling of the moment too. Her feel good futuristic nostalgia is at its best on this track, where she motivates us not to give up even though “we’ve been struggling endless days.” Her unapologetic self love is infectious too, which is a thread throughout all of her music”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Elsie Matilda
I will round off with an interview from LOCK. Although the last couple of years have not been ideal in terms of venues open and restrictions, Alex Amor’s music has got out there and connected with a lot of people. She is definitely one of the names to watch closely this year. Among the live dates she has coming up, she will play Brighton’s The Great Escape. When she spoke with LOCK late last year, she was asked where that amazing sound comes from:
“You’ve recently shared your new double single project “Summer Is Sweet With You”, can you tell us more about the project?
The project came from a genuine place during the pandemic. I was finding freedom in a relationship when it felt like the whole world was literally locked down. I’m not really the type of person to throw caution to the wind, but sometimes you just have to say ‘fuck it’ and go with your intuition, do something drastic and ride the rollercoaster. The music has an uplifting feeling to it and a sense of possibility, which is ultimately what I wanted to convey with this project.
Really loving your hazy indie-pop sound, where do you draw the most inspiration from?
I listen to a lot of dream pop bands from the west coast and Canada like Men I Trust, Alvvays, Wild Nothing and Beach Fossils. There’s a sense of warmth in the music I’m inspired by, that puts your mind at ease. I’m naturally quite an anxious person, so I like music to calm my nervous system down. My producer for the ‘Summer is Sweet with You’ singles owns a lot of analog gear, which was so much fun to experiment with over the past year. I’ve wanted to experiment with synths for such a long time and I’m finally managing to translate the sounds I hear in my head into the music.
What does your creative process look like?
Recently I’ve been inspired by movies. There’s something about listening to a monologue at a pivotal scene that always makes me want to write afterwards. Yesterday I wrote a poem after watching ‘IT: Chapter 2’. It’s about how us humans seem to always forget the good memories while we never seem to be able to get rid of the bad ones. It’s hard to let go of things that hurt us in the past but it’s so easy to forget all the great things that have happened to us. So yeah, I’ll probably bring that poem into a session and make a song out of it. If I’m lucky, I’ll pick the right chords for the song, and improvise the right melodies to go with the lyrics. That would be a good day in the studio!”.
I know that Alex Amor is going to go a very long way. The more she performs and with every song, here is someone who is standing out from the crowd! At a time when so many artists are emerging, I don’t think there is anyone quite like Amor. It will be fascinating to see how her career develops and blossoms through the next few years. I wonder when her debut album will come out. With an impressive string of singles already out there, small wonder so many people are buzzing about her music! Go and check out the brilliant Alex Amor. She is a young artist who is…
A mighty talent.
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