The Brilliance of Alexander Biggs
There is something intangible and magical in Alexander Biggs’ ability to entirely floor a listener in an opening lyric. For three releases in a row now, I have found myself arrested and unable to turn away from the opening moments of an Alexander Biggs song.
We parked your car
Down the street in the dark
Can’t remember where that was
You were kissing me a lot
From Miserable is so immediate in intimacy and imagery that you cannot help but want to hear the story that unfolds. A delicate song of love, depression and being hard to love.
I wanna see you fight for the hell of it
Pulling out your knife in the street light
Shining so dull on the glitter that flickers like lightning
Bouncing off the back of your blade
From Madeleine is flooded with reckless abandon, romance and a realness that runs through your mind from the first moment the song says hello.
Latest single All I Can Do Is Hate You is no different in its ability to brilliantly capture a beautiful reflection of the reality and incandescence of relationship in yet another masterful opening moment of music.
I want you to love me
‘til all I can do is hate you
To kiss me til you bruise me
To touch me til it scars
Like the singles before it and like all of Biggs’ songwriting, it is undeniable.
The brilliance of this opening stanza stays ever present for the remainder of the song and echoes through every element of it. A web of fingerpicking and orchestral undertones creates a long cast audible soundscape to be swept into. Whilst blunt moments lyrically punctuate a persistent honesty in the song. I want you to fuck me, Til I can’t say your name hits like a hammer a minute into song, snapping you back to attention.
Beyond its cleverness, All I Can Do Is Hate You, is beautiful to its core. A song of yearning and longing for a love that burns so bright it leaves you barren of thought and emotion. The song has a deft touch for defining a relationship we have all known and thought to be unique, making it attainable and universal.
For three singles in a row I have found myself thinking, Alexander Biggs must be one of the finest songwriters in the country. A thought I doubt I will be changing anytime soon.
