Lydia Burrell
Louisville, Kentucky, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
Lydia Burrell frontman Alexander Smith spent more than a year working on the eponymous debut album on Removador, with the majority made in his apartment. The album was composed on keyboards and computer, a solitary venture that reflected the album's themes of loss and loneliness.
But after hooking up with bassist Justin Davis and drummer Mark Guidry (ex-VHS or Beta) last year, Smith has turned Lydia Burrell into a full-time band. The three longtime friends have been in the studio this winter and Smith has a batch of new songs. (You can see Lydia Burrell on Friday at Zanzabar.)
“We went into the studio to try and capture a meatier sound with just Justin and Mark,” Smith said. “We recorded a one-off track that's just guitar, bass and drums without any electronics — no synths, no anything. I'm not sure what we're going to do with it, but I'd at least like to record an EP with just the band. I always have some idea in my head of what to do, but it's always somewhat up to chance what happens.” - Velocity Weekly
Lydia Burrell
REMOVADOR
By Mat Herron
Lydia Burrell is the solo outing from former Kangaroo member and composer Alexander Smith, who created Burrell as a character in a screenplay. If this album is a soundtrack, the role Burrell plays here is one of an unobtainable object of desire to that of Smith’s solitary, jilted lover. He’s left to ask questions without clear answers. Across eight tracks, his lyrics walk paths of heartbreak, loneliness and depression against a backdrop of quasi-hopeful synthetic beats and keyboards. I’m a boot with no sole/I’m a list of clichés about futility/I’m the last person you would call in an emergency, he sings on “Tuxedo.” He occasionally treads into brighter territory — I’ll never see anything that doesn’t reflect light — but overall the theme is clear: Breaking up is hard to do.
- Leo Weekly
Discography
Lydia Burrell (self-titled) - 2010 removador recordings and solutions.
available for a listen here:
http://removador.com/artists/lydia-burrell/
Photos
Bio
Removador Recordings and Solutions, the record label co-founded by My Morning Jacket frontman Yim Yames and former MMJ guitarist Johnny Quaid, released “Lydia Burrell”, the debut effort from producer Alexander Smith under the moniker Lydia Burrell. The album is a juxtaposition of richly detailed electronic production and his earnest voice. Aside from recording and production assistance from Yames and another friend, Ben Mundane, the collection of songs is a DIY affair, entirely the product of Smith’s creation.
Smith has been writing and performing music since high school. His interests led him eventually to pursue a masters degree in music theory and composition from University of Louisville. Taking the name from a character in an abandoned screen play, Smith eventually chose “Lydia Burrell” as his musical persona when he began experimenting with electronic music. The unique influences of Smith’s life are felt in the music. He has spent the last eight years building, tuning, and maintaining church pipe organs. “It’s stimulating to work with your hands and satisfying to play a part in how an enormous and complex instrument sounds,” says Smith. “I think it’s helped me to understand and appreciate the craftsmanship and process of building things.”
“Lydia Burrell” reflects the complexity of the organs Smith tunes. He calls the recording process a “trial and error” affair, the creation of an amalgam of sounds that eventually carves itself into song. Tracks such as “Lostma” and “Space (Never Enough Time)” build layer upon layer of industrial electronica, only to reveal a haunting melody hidden underneath. “Ring” showcases a songwriter using a gift for pop to establish that this is ultimately a record of loss and heartbreak. Smith notes, “it’s a product of that weird feeling of limbo when one thing that you were consumed with ends, and then you find you’re waiting for something else, even though you’re just back where you were.” It’s a great metaphor for the record… Finish the album at “Everything” then begin again with “Noiseamber,” discovering more in each song upon every listen.
Joining Smith in the live performances of Lydia Burrell are Justin Schotter-Davis on bass, and Mark Guidry on drums.
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