British singer/songwriter Alex Bayly observes his own emotional transformation in his hauntingly turbulent new song “Animal,” an intimate and emotional indie folk reflection.
Stream: “Animal” – Alex Bayly
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Our relationships do far more than affect us in the moment: They define who we are as people, shaping our actions and behaviors while playing pivotal roles in our individual and collective growth. Change is inevitable, and whether it’s for the better or for the worse, there’s value in recognizing how other impact our lives. British singer/songwriter Alex Bayly observes his own emotional transformation in his hauntingly turbulent new song “Animal,” an intimate and emotional indie folk reflection.
Walking in the dream awake,
The boss level burden weight.
Heavy Metal, & broken gates.
A life with,
Life with a different take,
The alternate ending place.
On the stage, then lain to waste.
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Animal,” the latest single off Alex Bayly’s forthcoming debut album Ley Lines (independently out October 30, 2019). A London-based singer/songwriter with a dreamy falsetto and penchant for haunting lyricism, Bayly introduced his artistry nearly a decade ago by uploading songs to SoundCloud. His musical evolution can be traced from a more traditional folk/rock acoustic guitar and vocals sound, through to the more soulful alternative folk, multi-faceted ethos he espouses today.
Preceeded by singles like the heavy, blues-influenced “I’ll Never Leave You,” the harder rock indulgence “Lonely Michael,” and the wondrous title track “Ley Lines,” “Animal” finds the artist in his most intimate and isolated state. He sings a heartbroken chorus intense with turbulent emotion:
And it’s XXX now.
It’s XXX now.
You made an animal out of me,
You made an animal.
You made an animal out of me.
“The lyric I am most proud of on this song and perhaps on my forthcoming album is, ‘The boss level burden weight’. In fact the song was called ‘Boss Level’ as a working title,” Bayly tells Atwood Magazine. “This lyric has a couple of meanings for me, most obviously referring to a final boss level you would encounter on a computer game. The last high pressure section of game, where all your hard work reaches its intense climax. For me the nostalgia of fighting Bowser on Mario N64 comes rushing back, but now ‘Boss level’ is a metaphor for the trials of life. Setting up a job, relationships, striving to create art that hopefully can resonate with an audience that isn’t contrived and is truly from the heart.”
Bayly continues, “The mood of the song and lyric feels quite dark, similar to my previous songs like ‘New America’. A style people have referred to as my ‘sweet spot’… Bleak folk is my ‘sweet spot’. When I hear [the song’s] soaring strings, the guitar, bass and drums combined with my lyrics, it feels like a deep sea trawler raking the bottom of a sea bed disturbing the ground and creating a dense black fog. There is something beyond the lyrics though, which is kept or censored as the pre-chorus refers too. ‘It’s XXX now’. Sometimes you have to create the allusion of something before it can become real. Writing music is like that. The illusion is that there is something beyond just music, which represents the more than just arranged sound.”
Sometimes you have to create the allusion of something before it can become real.
Falling, Falling through the floor,
The breaking of the third wall,
Snake eyed die
The curtain call.
The final,
Final task to take,
The final resting place,
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves: Bayly unveils dark tremors in a song that dramatically evokes a sense of dread and sorrow. The artist feels at home in these subjects, reflecting on life’s hardest parts through a style that has yet to be shown in the run-up to his debut full-length.
“Animal” is melancholic in the most uplifting sense, catapulting listeners into a whirlwind of resonant emotion.
Atmospheric folk finds its ground in a moving, sentimental reflection on interpersonal dynamics: The longing, love, loss, and everything else that makes the heart skip a beat. Stream “Animal” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and be sure to listen to Alex Bayly’s debut album Ley Lines upon its October 30th release!
And it’s XXX now.
It’s XXX now.
You made an animal out of me,
You made an animal.
You made an animal out of me.
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Stream: “Animal” – Alex Bayly
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