Alex Tedesco is from Livonia, MI.  I had met him at the university that we had formerly attended and quickly became good friends. We had spoke and shared interest in creating our own music and he had shown me all of the projects he had been working on/involved in (The Toad Disco, Half-Pairof Trios, Hosts, etc). I was quite amazed at the many different genres that had inspired him to create music, especially since a lot of them had shown through and melded together within his own work. The intimate nature and soul-energy delicately tuned had always been a staple in the music that he has created.

What I will be sharing with you his is (part of his) newest masterpiece that has been in the making for quite some time now (up to three years). After many revisions, his work of art, “Pretty Lies”, is finally ready for sonic consumption and is begging for a label to pick it up. With intimate and carefully constructed pop methods combined with weird samples, beautiful noise melodies, and instrumentation layered intricately throughout this album, you shouldn’t be surprised if you are found humming a few melodies encased in this album after listening.

The song “Ruining the Symbol” opens up the album with a soft melody eminating from a melodica with hints of what seems like a violin and a glockenspiel of sorts. Immediately as that vibe has calmed, you are immediately met with a sort of upset and anxious chord progression.  Slowly a second guitar and drums are rolled in to complete the introduction and story that that will be told.

Throughout the entirety of the album, with headphones on, you might be able to hear that distant, hopeful melodica melody that had opened up the album. I always enjoy things such as this as it brings continuity of ideas throughout the record while seemingly telling you what is to come with odd foreshadowing. The same can be said for a lot of the songs lyrically. It seems as though all of the songs are some sort of living being, weaving fluidly through each other in a comfortable fashion to make the story Alex is explaining quite alive and real.

The track “Let Me Just Say” just might be the most interesting track in my opinion. The first part of the song follows the line of an extremely dirty, distorted guitar and quickly drops off to the line “I’ll probably die alone/but that’s now what I’m worried about/I’m worried about my soul..” It seems as though the energy in the song builds up in Alex’s voice as he tries to hold it back, trembling and lets the song culminate hand-in-hand with the lyrics
“Convince me I’m not really blue and all the world’s a fucking stage”(how I had heard the lyrics).  A sample weaves its way into the mix which explodes in a cocaphony of
noisy guitar and distorted reverberations. This could easily be one of my favorite tracks just because of the brilliant use of dynamics and juxtaposition of moods.

“Contempt” comes off initially as an intimate vibe and quickly explodes with frustrated energy thrown into whirlwind of clicks, bangs, and bass.  Heavy and deep noise waves show their faces around a minute in with intensity.  After the lyrics “We never had these problems, honey…”, a stern energy is set finally as a culmination of his statements. The track fades off with reverberated, murmuring tones as the frustration subsides.

Have I gushed over Alex’s voice yet? It is perfect with the stages he sets with his songs and does wonderful with layers of harmony. It’s a nice mix of a storytelling tone while yearning to hint to you more through the soul enveloped within his energy.

As the “The Light” opens, the lyrics bring the story full circle as they are the same as “Ruining the Symbol”. As a retelling of “Ruining the Symbol”, he restates his story that works just as wonderfully as a closer as it does an opener. Obviously this version is way more intimate than ”Ruining the Symbol” with quiet fingerpicking of his acoustic guitar and a keen sense of closure in his voice for the story that is “Pretty Lies”. ”If you squint your eyes you can see me shine with the light she lit in me,” are the last words uttered and thusly bringing this chapter of Alex Tedesco’s life to a close.

“Pretty Lies” is an immense work of art. The power, energy, intimacy, and personal stories laid out throughout are some of the main subjects that attract me to this album. That, coupled with intricate pop melodies and great use of odd sounds, noise clips, and
groovy rhythms makes this an extremely special experience.

Now, like I had mentioned, this album has not been picked up by a label yet, so there is no link to buy his album. He had informed me that if there is no label to pick it up by March, he will be releasing it on his own.  Alex did not specify whether this will be a net release or a physical release so to stay on top of all of the matters involving his music, check out all of the links below:

His Facebook page for updates on “Pretty Lies” and future endeavors:  http://www.facebook.com/alexjamestedesco

Here is his Soundcloud page linked to his “Pretty Lies” set.  All of the tracks were originally 30 second clips, but every Monday he updates the next track with the full one, so keep your eyes peeled!

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