#10 Alex Cameron - The Comeback, 2013

Reviewing this song from the perspective of someone who knows virtually nothing about Alex Cameron—aside from being a talented and experimental Australian artist—this track was a brilliant and striking discovery on my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist.

Since then, I’ve learned that Alex Cameron is very much the archetypal "artist's artist," known for adopting stage personas and delivering conceptual albums tied to each character. This particular song comes from an album featuring the character of a "failed musician."

I absolutely love the production on this track! After researching it online, I found that it has polarized fans quite strongly. When I first heard it, I thought it sounded like a pseudo "Born in the USA" Springsteen—think Elvis, a tragic, washed-up singer from the '80s. The palette of sounds is very deliberately '80s, with synth choices that could be straight out of an early John Carpenter movie. The drumming, in fact, feels like it's lifted directly from "Assault on Precinct 13." The echo on the lead vocal brings out the vintage, Springsteen side of things, adding a wistful quality to the song and a sense of longing to the vocal. The electric guitars feature the obligatory chorus effect, rhythmically vamping off the drums and bass.

The way it has been produced in this style really heightens the overall mood and theme of the song: faded glory, regret, and disappointment are immediate themes. I also think the fact that it has been produced in this style is a subtly clever move, because it adds a timelessness to it, a depth to the lyrics and a sense of time within the aesthetic of the character - He is placing you right into his world. The album cover, depicting Cameron as a washed-up, dated character straight out of a Tarantino movie, polishes this off well.

The lyrics are very straightforward, playing directly into the theme of a failed entertainer who is trying to get his "show" back. They capture the disappointment he has faced in life, along with the anger and determination he still holds dear. In a way, I don't think the lyrics needed to be any more complicated than this; it's the full package that makes it work so well. Some of the lines are (maybe unintentionally) funny and a bit ridiculous, but again, they pull it off. I buy into what Cameron is saying.

It's interesting that this song served as my entry point into Alex Cameron's work. The whole persona, aesthetic, production value, and songwriting come together beautifully, exemplifying the idea of a true artist. There's a mystique behind the quirky song, with its strange lyrics, blatant '80s production, and intriguing front cover. Something is being translated, and it feels sincere. I’m looking forward to discovering more of his music.