If you were to fall back on that classic lazy pop writer's short cut: the old read-the-press-release-and-toss-something-off-without-actually-hearing-the-record trick, you'd find yourself with serious egg on your face in the case of ALEXIS STRUM.
Because, if you were to base your thoughts on her music on the contents of her bio, you'd expect to be hearing a sensitive acoustic singer/ songwriter in the Beth Orton vein, seeing as how she's co-written and played on Ed Case's widely-acclaimed "Ed's Guest ist."
So initial exposure to "Addicted" is something of a perception realigner, to say the least, as it's a playful, sassy electro-pop groove, based around a tricky little guitar hook, which is frankly within shagging distance of seriously real commercial potential.
Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on your standpoint. "Addicted" has the sort of thinly-veiled innuendo without too much brain power that usually passes for chart success in these cynical times and isn't truly horrible at all. However, whether the world really needs an electro Sheryl Crow, as "Addicted" seems to suggest, is another matter entirely.
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Alexis has a breathy, seductive kinda voice that could probably still pass muster if given more impressive material, but the fact that she's recording songs for her debut album written by the likes of Brian Higgins (previously responsible for atrocities such as Sugababes) hardly bodes well either.
You can hardly blame Alexis Strum for ensuring she has a commercial future in these perilous times, but on this evidence, the reputation is considerably more impressive than the reality. Pity. Just as well I didn't fall for the press release.
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