Journeyman Glaswegian ALEX McEWAN has struggled through a decade of waiting and hoping to finally reach the stage where he has a record out. It's been a typical struggle involving attempts to give up teaching jobs, playing songs in bars in Nashville and LA to gain attention and a spell busking on tube trains in London. And there we were thinking it was The Others who'd propagated the art of the guerrilla gig all along.
Not that Alex's spontaneous shows bear any relation to the London urchin scene now that he's finally made it into the studio. His music is very much of the emotive ballad type, and his relentless gigging has attracted the likes of Del Amitri's Justin Currie and Andy Alston and (more surprisingly) producer Mark Freeguard - previously responsible for hard-edged records by the Manic Street Preachers and Compulsion - who adds some technical expertise to two of these three tracks.
More importantly, though, McEwan himself has clearly poured his heart and soul into these songs. Both "She Must Be Crazy" and the closing "It's All Over" are of the plaintive, weepy ballad variety, very much in the Del Amitri/ David Gray vein, with Alex's undoubtedly plaintive voice mixed to the fore, strings on hand for emphasis and Andy Alston's sensitive piano also there to guide. It's not really my thing, but regardless of that, these songs are tailor-made for daytime radio and do showcase a talented songwriter.
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Arguably better from my point of view is "Young Once", which springs from sessions with Beach Boys collaborator Lou Natkin. Admittedly it's not a major departure stylistically, but it has a likeable Neil Finn-style backdrop and is a good vehicle for McEwan's winning sensitivity.
Like I hinted earlier, this kind of thing isn't really my bag, but it'll probably do the trick for anyone who's smitten with David Gray and the apparently de-weirded new Damien Rice sound. I can realistically see Alex McEwan gaining similar plaudits in the long run.
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