Alex Lloyd

Black The Sun Something Special Everybody's Laughing Hello The End Coming Home Save My Soul Never Meant To Fail Slow train ;

What more can be said about this exceptionally talented Australian songwriter who has produced six of the most critically acclaimed albums of the last decade . Releasing the hauntingly beautiful ‘Black The Sun’ EP in 1997 was just the beginning of a roller coaster ride to popularity.

With many questions being asked about the talents of Mr Lloyd (at the time), Alex followed through with a variety of hit singles leading up to the release of his hugely successful debut LP, (also titled ‘Black The Sun’) and released through EMI Records in 1999. Scooping the #1 position on radio TRIPLE J’s listeners Top Ten albums of 1999 (& voted by the listeners over such luminaries as Red Hot Chili Peppers, silverchair, Moby & other big names), this was the just the beginning of a number of accolades Alex has managed to score – including FOUR ARIA AWARDS & an APRA Award for most performed song, being the huge hit, ‘Amazing’

Alex’s break though album ‘Watching Angels Mend (featuring the track ‘Amazing’) saw him achieve major success both within Australia and internationally. Now having sold well over 280,000 copies (infact 4 x platinum), it was  the most successful Australian album release of 2002. Accompanied by a massive sold out National tour, Alex Lloyd cemented his status as one of Australia’s most talented and prominent songwriters.

Since the ‘Amazing‘ period Alex has completed the writing and recording & release of four further stunning albums –  “Distant Light”, “Alex Lloyd”, “Amazing: The Best Of Alex Lloyd” & “Good In The Face Of A Stranger”. Each being accompanied by a swag of hit singles, Alex continues on a prolific career as one of the most important Australian singer/songwriters and currently continuing with his career from his current base in London, UK.

ALEX LLOYD BIOGRAPHY

Alex Lloyd is, quite simply, one of the finest and most popular singer-songwriters Australia has produced. His musical career can be traced all the way back to his teen years when, as a 13 year old upstart, he started playing in pubs with his first band, the blues based The Beefs. After a stint in ragged Sydney indie rockers, Mother Hubbard, Lloyd went solo in 1997 and has since had a remarkable career that has garnered critical and public acclaim in Australia and overseas. His three solo albums – 1999’s Black The Sun , 2001’s Watching Angels Mend and 2003’s Distant Light – have collectively sold more than 500 000 copies and following the release of each album he has been awarded an ARIA for Best Male Artist (2000, 2001, 2003). 2000 also saw him win an ARIA for Best New Talent. But Lloyd is more than an accomplished album artist with a penchant for experimentation and an intuitive gift for melody: his now iconic 2001 single, “Amazing” was not only voted Song of the Year in the prestigious, listener voted Triple J Hottest 100 poll in 2001 – it also secured an APRA Award (the songwriters awards) in 2002 for Song of the Year and was also the most played song on Australian radio that same year.

Given such heady success it’s surprising to hear – to the outsider, at least – that the past two years have been the most emotionally turbulent of Lloyd’s life. But it’s this period – during which time his record deal was up for renewal, he was about to become a father for the first time and his relationship with manager and best friend was falling apart – that Lloyd lays bare on his latest album, simply titled ALEX LLOYD. A break-up album of sorts, ALEX LLOYD explores the changes in the singer’s life that began just prior to the recording of his platinum-selling third album, Distant Light .

“I was living a very rock n roll lifestyle at the time”, recalls Lloyd. “In every sense of the word. Then I changed my life very dramatically. I got married and I was about to have a son. So at that time I didn’t feel like a rock star… I didn’t want to be a rock star. I just wanted to be home and drill holes and do things domestically. But at the same time there was the pressure of becoming a father, wanting to provide for my family and worrying about the future. I was thinking of giving up music at that point. I thought I’d just give it all away”.

In the ensuing period Lloyd retreated into family life and loved it. “I became really comfortable with being a father and I found myself in my bedroom writing songs for the first time since my first album, Black The Sun . And it felt like a new beginning, which is why this album is self-titled. Cause in the beginning I didn’t have a record company, I didn’t have anyone with any expectations. I just had myself to judge my own music and I was actually enjoying myself again. It wasn’t all the bullshit and madness of Watching Angels Mend and Distant Light . It was just simply making music again”.

Lloyd’s decision to record the ALEX LLOYD album at Seattle’s London Bridge Studio’s was two-fold: he wanted to take himself and his songs out of their comfort zone, and his producer, Rick Parashar (of Pearl Jam’s Ten and Alice In Chain’s Dirt fame) lives there. At first glance, the pairing with Parashar seems unlikely; after all, Lloyd’s music is the antithesis of the dirge and bluster of grunge. But when you strip an album like Dirt back to its basics, what you find are songs full of raw emotion and inventive arrangements. And that sounds like Alex Lloyd.

A best of album  titled ‘Amazing: The Best Of Alex Lloyd” was released in 2006 via EMI. Featuring all of Alex’s biggest hits, it coincided with a move to London, which has remained as Alex’s base since. In 2008, Alex released possibly his most introspective and challenging album via the aptly titled “Good In The Face Of A Stranger”. Featuring the haunting & stunning first single, “Slow Train” with an accompanying animated film clip, it marked Alex’s foray to the world of independent releases and regaining full control of his music. Whilst completing the “Good In The Face Of A Stranger”, Alex had also commenced working hard on his very first film sound track for the award winning feature film, MAD BASTARDS (also see MAD BASTARDS)

Without a doubt, Alex Lloyd’s musical creations of now are the most emotionally resonant and assured of his incredible career, furthering his status as a songwriter continually willing to expand his musical boundaries. Where Black The Sun was defined by its electro, hip-hop textures, Watching Angels Mend by its English pop sensibility Distant Light by its live, indie feel, crossing over to the across the board appeal of the self titled album ALEX LLOYD has come full circle with “Good In The Face Of A Stranger” being a record where moments of sublime pop beauty and delicate melancholia are bolstered by sweeping melodies, affecting harmonies and a sure sense of structure. But above all, “Good In The Face Of A Stranger” is an album defined by its diverse guitar textures, lending it an understated but confident rock feel that’s organic and undeniably atmospheric.

Having performed before the harshest & and most endearing of crowds including royalty, politicians and musical peers, Alex Lloyd continues on a respectful and credible career trajectory that will be life long!

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