There are countless ways that a heavenly harmony can affect us, and in Rob Alexander’s “Life As We Know It,” the third single from his album Being Myself, it’s perhaps even more essential to the construction of the song’s narrative than Alexander’s lyrics are. From the get-go, the backing band and the man of the hour are conjuring up a charming vibrancy in their shared melodicism that arguably expresses more emotion than any verse ever could on its own, and although it could be said that this is hardly new territory for Rob Alexander, “Life As We Know It” could be the most efficient showcase of his talents to see widespread release so far. One part piano rock and another part adult contemporary power ballad, this is required listening this season, folks.
The beat in this song forges the foundation for every melodic burst of adrenaline that we find in its roughly three minutes of running time, and I think the percussion was stylized with a little more polish than the other components here to illustrate the emotionality in this aspect of the track. Rob Alexander is known for using every part of a composition to tell us a story, and to some extent, “Life As We Know It” is no different. What is different about this release versus past efforts is perhaps steeped more in aesthetical fluidity than it is style of attack; in more ways than one, this song is a hybrid, but it doesn’t sound even remotely experimental beside the other tracks in Being Myself.
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You don’t have to be a professional critic to pick up on the reflective tone in this single, and to a lesser degree, the theme that persists from the start of Being Myself’s tracklist to the very moment its material ceases to fill the air around us. I got the impression that, for Rob Alexander, exploring the narrative both here and in the album in general wasn’t so much about alluding to his personable nature as it was demonstrating that he’s the real article whether he’s rocking out to a swinging beat or simply crooning a lush ballad to us in half-time. He’s a musician of many talents, and anyone with an ear for pure melodicism can tell that.
Though it doesn’t apply to many of the records that his closest rivals have given us in the last couple of years, it’s no overstatement to say that what Rob Alexander pulls off in Being Myself is a turning point for his artistry, and more importantly, the combination of genres he’s attempting to amalgamate in-studio. You needn’t be the world’s biggest piano rock fan to fall in love with what “Life As We Know It” is all about, but for those of us who can’t get enough of a key-powered harmony in all of its untouched glory, this is premium content that you don’t find every day on your local FM dial anymore. The bottom line? Alexander is an artist you really need to keep on your radar right now.
Levi Colston