Customer Reviews

Black the Sun

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Fans of progressive British rock bands such as Radiohead and Travis may care to check out Australian musician Alex Lloyd's more than competent debut album "Black the Sun". With versatile songwriting skills and a lived-in yet fragile voice that belies his youth, Lloyd richly evokes Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" on "Melting", without ever sounding derivative. This is a song that creeps up on you quietly, turns schizoid and grabs you by the throat, then gently lets go. Sampling, voice treatments and additional instruments are used judiciously, never overwhelming the listener. In "Momo", samples, harp, cheesy organ and heavy riffing guitars conspire to generate chaos, but are reined in at just the right moment to maintain the dynamic tension. The title track is a nothing short of a pop/rock gem, with a Jeff Buckley style refrain that lifts you into the ether where you don't want it to end. Even seemingly lesser tracks like "Lucky Star" and "What a Year" are compensated by succinct, memorable choruses and no-nonsense arrangements. The album's closing ballad, "Backseat Clause" conveys mixed emotions in a moving, understated way and would make a perfect live "show stopper". With a debut of this calibre, I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more of Alex Lloyd.

At last Australia has produced an artist that can sing and play his instrument without harsh shouting. On top of that, Alex Lloyd has delivered a lyrically outstanding and harmonic album. This guy concentrates on his music not some distant image portrayed to society, and luckily, he has now been exposed for his true talent. His album is amazing, songs like My way home, black the sun, Lucky star etc are fantastic. This album is a must get for any supporter of Australian music or just soft rock, feat excellent guitars remixed with this guys voice. Well done alex.

Its not very often that you stumble across a CD that keeps you entranced from track one through to the end (with the added bonus that Alex is a down to earth Aussie babe!). This is one of those rare jewels and I highly recommend that you add this to your collection ASAP. I bought this CD as soon as it was released in Australia and have played it ever since. Alex keeps you captivated with his mix of electronic and acoustic sounds combined with excellent vocals. He also does not fail to captivate when he plays live. Do yourself a favour and purchase Black the Sun immediately. I also hear that a new album might be on the horizon in the next twelve months.

Awesome great stuff highly recommend! Live accoustics make this one go off..rocks hard

I may not be able to provide an intellectual review, but I can say that this album is great. I enjoy good music in many forms (Monster Magnet, The Tea Party), and this album is great.

Lloyd conveys emotion in a powerful way without being overpowering. A great album to really LISTEN to, or to chill out to. I highly recommend it (pity it's an import for all you non-Australians)

I first heard Alex Lloyd on the soundtrack to Scream 2, a gutsy remix of 'Snow' and I loved its melodies and his gruff, husky voice. He has a soulful and insightful way of looking at the world through music. My favourite tracks are 'black the sun' and 'melting' but all have their own moments of glory. I would recommend this for anyone who appreciates good song writing and wants to support the growing australian music industry. good on you, alex.

This album is a gem! Songs to listen out for are "my way home", "lucky star" and "black the sun". Happy listening!

I was just in Melbourne & picked this up off a Borders listening station. The songwriting is sometimes pedestrian--two or three songs feel like filler--but Lloyd's voice is immediately distinctive, and the music is consistently interesting and surprising. "Momo" is a case in point, with its spoken-word Japanese intro, drum-and-bass groove, and a splash of harmonica and R&B organ. I think this could find a large audience in the US.

Generally speaking, the alternative genre of music is mostly made up of bands, and there aren't as many solo musicians. But meet Alex Lloyd, who sings, plays acoustic guitar and writes his music. And although this album was produced in the UK, he's Australian. And he's contributed well to his country's music industry, winning a number of ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association) awards, including Best Male Talent thrice - and not without reason.

This is inoffensive, solid, enjoyable alternative music, which for the best listening experience should be played while driving. The bass guitar gets a good workout, and surely drives the tracks along that bit more. Think dark.

"Momo" is a standout, and sets the right tone for the album - dark, with a bit of edge. This particular track evokes the images of an outback drive, and the bridge and coda with the harmonica aid this, giving it more of an Australian feel. "Gender" is another song perfect for driving. It has the best bass on the album and is somewhat dark, with attitude that makes it one of the best tracks on the album.

"Black the Sun" also shows shades of the good darkness, including thunder, a travelling zapping sound and something else that makes one wonder if they're hearing someone trying to contact aliens. More darkness appears in "What a Year", which has a sarcastic tone to it.

"Something Special" sounds very commercially-friendly, to the extent that it could've been used in television advertisements for sport. Another commercially friendly - but better - track is "My Way Home", which was released as a single. It's catchy, has strong vocals, has that driving bass, is lively, has light keyboard, as well as use of the xylophone. It's one of my favourites.

"Aliens" is one of two songs that could be described as ballads, but Alex Lloyd is one of those artists who's managed to do it in a way that you won't roll your eyes at. This is a slower track, but it's sweet and lovely, as is "Backseat Clause", which is acoustic.

This is an important album to keep in mind, especially considering his later releases. His second album, "Watching Angels Mend" is more commercially friendly (the hit song "Amazing" is a true example of this), but his third and most recent album, "Distant Light", is said to return to the darkness of "Black the Sun". While that third album was probably released too late to receive an album nomination (it's only been out a few weeks, at the time of writing), its first single, "Coming Home", was enough to earn Alex Lloyd the Best Male Talent award at the 2003 ARIA Awards.

--Erin Horgan, http://www.thenorthernsound.cjb.net