[gtranslate]
Music

Alex Edwards walks us through the wonderworld of his timeless album ‘Flight Frost’

Alex Edward revels in his past work and pulls the tracks into the present as he continues to perform with alt-indie band, Snowcats.

Today, Alex Edwards takes us on a guided tour of his nostalgic 20-track album from 2015, Flight Frost. Coming off the back of his latest single release, CandlesEdwards is turning back the clock to unravel the works that cracked open his emotionally charged, dream-rock style.

Described by Edwards to be “full of coos and howls and is a genuine hullabaloo across Queensland”, Flight Frost is a timeless revelation still performed in part by his current band, Snowcats, ahead of their EP release in March 2022 and his personal EP launching December of this year.

Alex Edwards

Land Of The Dragons

While Flight Frost remains dated, its tracks are amaranthine and hard to pin down to a particular generation being that they are all entirely acoustic. But don’t let that fool you – Land Of The Dragons (and others) come alive in Alex Edwards’ new band Snowcats‘ performances… and much like this song, they are similarly full of sentimental passages of emo glory divided across transcendent lyrics.

Spies

If Alex Edwards makes a noise in a forest and no one is around to hear him, did he still write one of the most dominant Australian singer-songwriter debuts of 2015? It’s difficult to chisel a finite number of facets to his ingenuity, but Spies – while it remains one of the songs that doesn’t find itself in his new band Snowcats’ repertoire – really remains an example of unconscious wit and pathos. Surely the “Dido – White Flag” of Aussie folk artists in its time.

Bitter And Alone

Brash harmonica, freeform lyrics and unapologetic angst, commit to a partnership in anthem-esque proportions in Bitter And Alone, Alex’s clarion call to independence of thought. I can’t help but think that Snowcats might take its plodding chord progression into their set one day, for the sheer fact of how simple (and yet powerful) it is.

Away

In all testimonies, the first song that Alex wrote at the beginning of his more serious tenure as a singer-songwriter belonged on his debut album as a matter of posterity. What kind of statement does it make about an artist if this song is about the doomed personality the protagonist has in affairs of the heart?

Maybe there’s something honest about the spider-like guitar contour that mimics the galloping cowboy rubric of Away’s main character; we are all always in a heartfelt procession from, rather than to.

My Baby Don’t Know

Alex’s crowning achievement as a songwriter for some has been to encapsulate in raw agony the jilted sourpuss and mischief-making stalker, heartbroken forever but determined to get revenge. My Baby Don’t Know weaves along a trellis of chromatic triumph, with an unplugged assault on all who should dare interfere with vengeance. I heard that Snowcats play it last!

Cardiac

A short and sanguine outing into a kind of euphonious diary entry, Cardiac habitates nicely inside Flight Frost away from Snowcats’ employ, but is meaningfully ensconced forever across 2015 just as much as now in a deep reservoir of endless homespun folk aesthetic. The musicality of its guitar solo really confirms to us confidently why we are still listening in 2021.

Gentle Sky

A stripped-bare number that reels you into its confessional magic. Calamitous is the self-awakening of the amnesiac, who sorts memories from new-fangled impressions to hitch a lilting pin into the side of a mountain underneath, perhaps, a Gentle Sky.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Alex Edwards (@alexedwardsmusic)

First Man On Mars

Maybe when man steps foot on Mars, Alex’s dreams of penning a tune concomitant with the event in the eyes of its officials will be fulfilled. His craftsmanship inside First Man On Mars really reflects the validity of this ambition, whereby the understudy to the First Man On Mars disavows his cowardice and downheartedness to embrace a life after divorce.

It’s easy to understand why Alex keeps this lightly-sprinkled folk song in Snowcats!

 Butterflies

Butterflies, apart from being a direct dirge about wanderlust, claws and plucks along a beauteous chordal odyssey to the ends of the earth. Its layovers feature tranced verses and soaring themes of immunity from stress, bleakness, and the misanthropy found on previous tracks.

If you ever get hold of a copy of Flight Frost then you’ll notice this song finishes the first CD; the aerial motifs sum charmingly at this point and really remind us why Alex received acclaim in Brisbane’s indie underground for being a sturdy champ of folk compositions.

Little Miracles

It’s clear that Alex had accepted his local reputation as an eccentric melodist in this song, which curiously highlights a conversation between a man and his guardian angel but with drifting phonemes and peculiarly alluring accompaniment. A timeless prototype of the generational blues that we all feel, but like Butterflies, it remains archived politely out of reach of future interpretations with respect to Snowcats. A minor tragedy!

So Smiled Al Capone

In a bundle of attractive, darting notes and staccato strokes, So Smiled Al Capone reaches into select territory as a biographical piece about the infamous, terrifying mobster of the 20th century. This is perhaps a songwriting height for Alex, as he polishes his commodities for an adventure into portraiture – as if personally hired to try and capture the sine qua non of American west coast swagger and silky goons.

Maybe because of its precious artistry, it’s a special deposit in the vault of Alex Edwards material that doesn’t appear in the Snowcats era. Nevertheless, it’s a standout of Flight Frost.

Vanish

From the outset of this tune, we deep-dive into fable and fantasy as Alex plays raconteur to his spin on the Orpheus Eurydice tale. For fans of the original telling, it surely doesn’t disappoint in its poetic passage to the underworld and further, as Alex flicks and flecks his guitar strings to the escalating verses. Another omission for Snowcats, but a possession for diehard Edwards audiences.

Can’t Hold On

Alex Edwards obliterated his competition with this hard-slinging, steely charge towards grandeur and booming fame that was only ever muted by the mysteries of the industry. Great artists have, throughout the decades, been constrained within powerful, economic anonymities at best, and only the choice minority have had success at poking their head above the ceiling.

It’s certain Alex became comatose head-butting the roof here doing just that, inside Can’t Hold On. So very nearly it is Alex’s best song, and an indie success story contained within a few minutes every time it plays.

The Merman Shanty

Six minutes of a pledge to the bizarre and the far-fetched comprise, The Merman Shanty, which trails a fish-man chimera’s departure from his sea-dwelling to earn his keep raiding with ocean marauders. Maybe it is the marriage of movements that is incumbent upon such a long song to reveals his skill as a writer generally, but we are so sure that it would have been evident anyway, owing to the sweeping verbiages which are surely Alex in his tunesmith element.

Only, Ever I

At this point, Alex’s catalogue really is a distinction among his peers, for its sheer volume and consistent magical quality. It’s a spotlight he will have no trouble maintaining in Snowcats we so truly hope – as they prepare their EP for release in March 2022, alongside Alex’s personal EP, Fealty Fjords to be released in December 2021. If these publications are anything like Only Ever I, there will be no applause greater than the clamour of mouse clicks.

Edo Rose

This is perhaps one of Alex’s most touching odes on Flight Frost – to the illustrious geisha trade of Imperial Japan. It’s a glorious songwriting maturity on display, as sentiment after sentiment connect and flow and leave wilting the Edo Rose.

Arabesque

Like the above and others, this song lingers into a musical past for Alex Edwards. Perhaps it sits so neatly in an acoustic trophy room per se, because it is so gentle and aesthetically rare. Arabesque, with its Viennese waltz, we think, is too beautiful for this world.

Rockhopper

Written about the life cycle of a Rockhopper penguin, this track is surely an allegory for perseverance, and the meaning of family. The track lives on with as much vigour that the protagonist of the story does, as they evade trials and tribulations to carry on their mortal quest for survival. A real banger of a track, for sure, due to its hopscotch vocal delivery and catchy guitar complement.

Revolutions

Revolutions perhaps supplements Alex’s reputation as a master songwriter, because after 19 tracks, we feel that we have been rewarded for our attention with an out-and-out classic. Revolutions is a Snowcats special, belonging to the midst of a full-band instrumentation. The acoustic version is still as explosive, though, with its guitar-banging and wild trilling goodness.

Estonia

At the end of Flight Frost comes Estonia, Alex’s photograph of the end of the Soviet Union. While politically complex terrain, Alex Edwards skyrockets into artisanship as per usual with his romantic focus upon The Baltic Way… the hand-holding protest that stretched across nations. Such a fine way to end an album, with a love song!

 

Flight Frost is available for free download via Bandcamp, or if you’re hungry for a live performance of the tracks, keep up to date with Snowcats for their upcoming gigs.