Alias Wayne, as the name might suggest, is the alter ego of an established musician, one whose music is best categorised as Americana, country, and Texas folk-blues. But it is under this pseudonym that he allows himself to explore his musical potential to its fullest. The two halves of his sonic personality are separate yet wonderfully complementary musical stories.
Paradigm Shift, his latest six-track collection (and at this point I should note that irrespective of which sonic hat he is wearing, he is a prolific worker), is a wonderful little sonic package, small yet perfectly formed – little and often seems to be his approach to dropping music; more people should think along such lines.
‘Too Far’ opens the EP up in fine style, big (relative to the scale of a lot of his music), beautiful and sonically bountiful; it is a heady blend of grooving rock guitars which ring out into almost Hammond-like echoes, Latin percussion flourishes mixed with solid beats and Alias Wayne’s gorgeously relaxed vocals. His voice has a wonderful quality that feels like he could read the Gettysburg Address and it would feel like an aside in a relaxed late-night conversation.
‘Butterfly‘ is an understated piece of folk, simply adorned and simply gorgeous; ‘If I Could Love You’ deals with love and longing, and the feelings that come with separation; and ‘Manifest Destiny‘ takes that difficult phrase and gives it a more positive and purposeful message. The EP bows out with the serene and seductive ‘Castles in the Sky.’
Some of these songs we have heard before, as singles that have headed out into the world under their own steam, but it is when you hear them all arranged together and in a carefully curated sequence that you get to appreciate the scope and creativity, not to mention the cool, that is Alias Wayne fully.
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