In an endearing howl, Rob Alexander begs the question of how to reconcile self with substance in this, his new single, “Get Over Yourself.” The question isn’t as simple as it sounds; for Alexander is backed into a corner right now, facing down notions that won’t let him be, and he’s looking for a means of letting the entire globe know exactly what this moment feels like from a first-person point of view.
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He’s singing from the bottom of his soul, but the gentle synth echoing his pleading is giving us just as much of a show. Rob Alexander is not on the cover of this month’s NME, and you probably won’t be seeing him on any major review videos on YT anytime this season, but his new single has a more artful center than almost anything or anyone that will be. This song isn’t just about confronting the nagging notion; it’s about taking a stand against self-righteousness and all of those who would seek to inflict it upon the rest of us.
The treble is absent from the EQ on the synth parts in “Get Over Yourself,” and frankly I think that it was one of the best moves that could have been made when mixing this single. There’s already enough tension here without the inclusion of any pointless white noise, and the refined style of the arrangement responds a lot better to these heavy bass tones that Alexander uses instead. The percussion is the only component that feels a little lacking in pop varnish, but I don’t think of this as a negative feature at all.
Where everything else in the song is bright and shiny, the drums are down in a dirge and spitting out a bit of graininess to keep things feeling authentic and unforced. “Get Over Yourself” doesn’t even begin to turn me off on an instrumental level, but its poetic verses are what seal the deal for me as a listener. You don’t even need to have suffered the same viciousness that Alexander has in his life to appreciate how much he has to express to us in this track; if you’ve got a beating heart in your chest, you’re going to feel every ounce of the emotion he’s attempting to impart.
It’s only been a couple of weeks since I got the chance to hear Rob Alexander’s new single fresh off of its final mixing session, but in that short amount of time, I’ve become a big fan of his style, moreover, the way that he commands so much attention with his words. I know that he is going to find a very warm reception this summer, and I’m excited to see him in person if and when he decides to hit the road in support of his forthcoming album. I can’t imagine the sort of energy that he’s going to take on tour, but if it’s something along the lines of what we hear in “Get Over Yourself,” he’s going to have an easy time finding some likeminded artists and active voices in pop to share the bill with him.
Rachel Townsend