There is this strange idea in the music industry that pop is a young person’s game, marketed through posters, Instagram activity, guest rappers, and a studious pursuit of whatever fad or fashion seems to be flitting through the soundsphere this week. Surely, music can only ever be sold to the discerning public via one thing….the music itself.
Without wanting to appear rude, Alan Dreezer is not a younger chap, but that also means that he has been around long enough to understand this concept fully. Which is why, Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes, this third album, is all about the songs. And if again, without wanting to be rude, pop music has generally favored immediacy and infectiousness over smarts and sophistication, here, Dreezer proves that you can have both. Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes is a raising of the pop benchmark and thus perfectly titled.
Right from the off, “The End is Where I Started From” shows that he can mix groove and grace, this opening salvo rather than kicking off all guns blazing, instead coming on with a clever blend of classic pop moves, late 80’s vibes and cutting edge balladry – setting the scene perfectly.
“Take Me Back” sees a neo-soul sound dance over a restrained but funky bass line, “Apart” is that timeless torch song, and “99 Percent” again leans into the slick and soulful, whilst giving us the perfect early hours club song as the energy of the evening drifts into the more chilled sound of the early hours.
And if “I Love Being Alive,” which signs the album off, isn’t the most wonderfully life-affirming of sentiments, then I don’t know what is.
Alan Dreezer is certainly challenging our perceptions of pop, but not in some planned, publicity-driven way. He merely makes great pop music, music that sells itself, music that stands on its own two feet, music that is simply the sound of someone who fully understands that the music is everything.
He might not be some wide-eyed, overenergized, overambitious pop kid…but that is exactly what sets him apart from the wannabees and fame-chasers. Ambition is all well and good, but understanding and experience, worldliness and heart are far better qualities, and he has those in an endless supply.
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