Eclectic new artist Alex Charles chronicles summer of fun on new EP ‘Here’s What You Missed’
ORLANDO, FL – After a summer spent as a lifeguard in Orlando, Florida, young singer/songwriter Alex Charles has a lot of stories to share. His new EP, “Here’s What You Missed,” shares some of those stories underneath an original sound that is going to turn heads all over the South.
The three-song EP features stories that take listeners through certain parts of his life. Self-described as an “alternative” artist, Alex takes an eclectic approach to making music by fusing together multiple genres and sounds for something truly out-of-this-world.
“Everything you can think of I’ve listened to and explored,” Alex said. “I’ve always loved listening to music, and over the years I’ve listened to so many different things just so that I could hear different sounds. I’ve listened to things like Japanese folk music or opera and lot of other things with different languages and instruments. If it’s good, I just listen to it. I want to open myself up to everything, and after doing that for so many years, it just got to the point where it was inevitable that I would create my own music. When I make a song, it’s exactly what I want to listen to – it literally fits my persona. I don’t limit myself when it comes to a genre. When I create the sound I’m looking for, I can literally use any sound or genre. Sometimes it can lead to weird experiments like dubstep next to acoustic guitar. But I just keep searching until I find that perfect sound, and when I find it, I know it and go with it.”
The three songs on “Here’s What You Missed” are perfect examples of that musical exploration. “Bridget” starts off the project with an upbeat vibe that tells the story of an ex-girlfriend and the feelings Alex had for her. Lyrics like “She’s got the moves, I told ya / She puts it on me every now and then / She was a key, I told ya” paint the picture of a woman who is a “goddess.”
Alex follows that up with another upbeat song called “Summer at the Villas.” Pulled directly from his time as a lifeguard, the song tells a handful of stories from his summer while also examining the ups and downs of a summer fling.
The third single on the EP is a little more slowed-down, though still with a vibe that’s fun and fits that summertime feel. “King of Macedonia” is more of an introspective look at Alex’s state of mind right now and the crossroads he finds himself facing as he looks to the future.
“I feel this pressure to do something big right now,” he said. “The name of the song is a reference to Alexander the Great and my name is also Alex. Ultimately, it’s a reference to becoming something big right now and the expectations that I feel are out there and what it means to live up to those things, or not. Inevitably, I know what has to be done and I’ll be where I need to be. I’m confident and I know how things need to work, and this song is letting people into those thoughts. My time is here and the summer is over and now I have to go do the next step … that’s scary.”
Alex’s EP is slated to be distributed across all streaming platforms on Aug. 3.