Snapshot: Whales / The Magic of Multiples

In Ampeater’s Words: Good songs are written but the best ones tend to write themselves. In Whales / The Magic of Multiples, multi-instrumentalist Alex Drum gives his compositions free range to do just that. As a studio project, Whales feels removed from the pressures of performance. With no need to cement that new tune before the next show, Drum has time on his side. For many studio projects, this liberation can become a curse because it strips music of its communicative power. Without an audience, music ceases to be an exchange and tends to lose its vitality. However, in the case of Whales, it’s clear that Drum has assumed the roles of both artist and audience. Intimate and reflective, the music feels like an artist’s conversation with himself. “Strong Female Leads” was subjected to ample rumination, forgotten and rediscovered in the course of its gradual maturation. The result is a superlative composition, full of nuances but also raw power in moments like the unexpected (but in retrospect, inevitable) explosion when the beat drops and the promised female vocals finally emerge. Whales is an artist on the verge of discovery, constantly surprised by the beauty it manages to unearth from within.

In The Artist’s Words:

Well I work at a snails pace. I play/record everything myself and the majority of the time i’m writing the parts as i’m recording. I’ll record 5 minutes of a guitar line or loop, file it away and move onto something else. So alot of the songs end up spanning months and sometimes even years and end up becoming collages of sorts. Not the most efficient way to go about the song writing process but it works for me.

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Strong Female Leads

https://ampeater.s3.amazonaws.com/snapshot-whales-the-magic-of-multiples/Strong Female Leads.mp3