At the beginning of this month, Toronto, Canada-based pop artist Alex Exists hit my radar thanks to his team up with Sam Casey called Believe The Hype. It was such an exciting track, I of course had to check out the album on which it features. Recently released, it’s called Everybody’s Famous.

By Graeme Smith

Everybody’s Famous is Alex’s solo debut and he strikes out in a contrary direction with it, calling out the absurdity of human behaviour. The aforementioned Believe The Hype opens the album in a bombastic way, with in your face pop rock instrumentals and attitude-filled vocals.

With A Bang takes things is a dramatic direction, with a cinematic arrangement that incorporates touches of Americana and blues. Cameraboy gives us Justin Timberlake-esque pop RnB mixed with Alex’s unique style. Dancing With Chaos slows things down for a dark ballad before Mindful Madness, a collab with Martha Johnson from Martha and the Muffins, subverts the idea that madness is necessarily a bad thing through Gothic pop and surreal lyrics. You can check out its video, directed by Agata Waclawska and produced by Moon Reel Media, below.

Free To Run kicks off the album’s final stretch with lively, experimental electronica. Instant Karma, a cover of John Lennon, is then taken in a glam rock direction before Everybody’s Famous (Except Me) closes the album. A collaboration with AARYS it goes big with a synth riff that wouldn’t be out of place in the ’80s new wave.

Alex’s solo debut is a daring one, but his unique voice and style lands well and his fiery lyrics will find a home in the mind of any listener, but most certainly the cynical ones. If you happen to be in Toronto on 13 July, Alex will be launching the album there at Bar Cathedral.

Everybody’s Famous was produced by Alex and Michael Fong. You can listen to the album below.