Wednesday 30 March 2011

Alex Clare - Too Close


As James Blake and Jamie Woon have proven, there's a growing trend at the moment for fusing soul with modern production techniques.  Woon's Spirits represents this in a purely vocal form.  It's a thoroughly contemporary sound that, with Alex Clare (amongst others), is seeping into the commercial realm.

With Too Close, Clare takes these opposing musical worlds and, whilst he doesn't really add anything new, he combines them into a great track.  His soulful vocal is reminiscent of Adam Levine or Rob Thomas, accompanied by acoustic guitar in the verses.  This soul sound isn't so much merged as juxtaposed with the dub-step inspired chorus.  This only serves to heighten the impact of the sub-bass, though the drums feel too restrained.  Consequently, it's not quite as hard hitting as previous single Up All Night, though it's still a refreshing musical recipe that deserves a download.

Despite choosing the easy, radio-friendly route, Clare has a great track in Too Close.  It just doesn't quite have the inspired originality of Blake or Woon.

3/5