On the back of his glammy extravaganza ‘Mama I’ve Been Dying’, the Copenhagen-based singer-songwriter Alex Vargas delivers his brand new 60s psych-rock number ‘Pages’ (out on Stellar Records / Embassy Of Music) off the upcoming album ‘BIG BIG MACHINE’. The song is the most recent reminder of a noticeable transformation Vargas’ sound and song writing have gone through since his 2019 album, ‘Ego(Super/Trip/Maniac)’, an album underpinned by more traditional chord structures. “I’m allowing myself a bit more colour,” Vargas explained. “I’ve found a sense of having fun with music that I’ve not really had since I first started song writing as a carefree teenager.”
While that colour and lust for life is all over ‘Pages’, from the twirling flanger effect on Vargas’ sunburst Gibson Humminbird to the nifty little coda permeated by ethereal howling of theremin, the lyrics – co-written with Marcus Foster (Seramic) – strike a more visceral chord. It is here that Vargas makes some astute observations on a relationship solely held together by stubborn hope. “Why do we dream of versions that don’t exist / As if there was something we missed? / But doesn’t this feel like an ending?” Vargas asks in disbelief.
For Vargas, the answer is an unequivocal no. His new album ‘BIG BIG MACHINE’ is in the works as well as a cameo as a busker in the upcoming season 3 of Ted Lasso, the winner of Outstanding Comedy Series at the 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards, for which Vargas was chosen by the show’s mastermind and a secret fan Jason Sudeikis himself. “It was so much fun,” Vargas said. “And here’s the thing, I was already a fan of the show. I was really excited about the new season even before I knew I was going to be in it. Plus, I got to sing ‘Hey Jude’ all day.”
About Alex Vargas :
Alexander Vargas is a Danish singer, songwriter and record producer born in Denmark to a British mother and a Uruguayan father. Vargas initially made a name for himself as a singer on electronic music act Above & Beyond‘s album ‘We Are All We Need’ before his single ‘Shackled Up’ made it to No. 1 on the Danish iTunes Singles Chart in 2016.
Having won the Best Artist gong at the Danish Music Awards later that year, Vargas went on to release ‘Giving Up The Ghost EP’ (2016) followed by his debut album ‘Cohere’ in 2017, of which the single ‘Higher Love’ was picked to feature in a Diesel advert. He also performed the second single ‘Inclosure’ in A COLORS SHOW in 2017. “Cohere is a remarkable album, difficult to categorise with its big-band production complete with jazz-styled orchestra and rousing choral vocals that would not be out of place in a house of God,” PoppedMusic wrote on ‘Cohere.’
His second project ‘EGO’, a concept album in three parts (SuperEGO, EGOTrip, EGOManiac), came out between May and October 2019. A mix of folk, rock, and synth-pop, the album is a sobering, arduous journey through the different stages of grief Vargas went through following the death of his older sister. “Writing songs suddenly came from a whole different place within and sung – and it really helped me during an incomprehensibly hard time. The songs became important to me and I felt like they had to be done,” Alex described his album.
In 2022 Vargas has released two singles on Stellar Records / Embassy of Music – a throwback ballad ‘Yougazer’ and an explosive glam-rock anthem ‘Mama, I’ve Been Dying’ – off his upcoming album ‘BIG BIG MACHINE’. “I’ve always been in love with the 60’s and 70’s. Back in the day, when songs literally created soundtracks for lives – lives that were free-spirited, flamboyant, and great,” he explains. “The last couple of years have created a need in me to embrace those feelings and, more than ever, I want to express them throughout my music.”