I’m a child of the 80s. TV stars having a recording contract was the thing back then – your humble scribe will attest to his 33 year (as yet unrequited) love affair with Kyle Minogue – you basically only had to be on Eastenders twice and boom, you were on Top Of The Pops.
That all being said, I know more about music than I do TV and film, so without the press stuff that came with Alexander Ludwig’s debut EP, I wouldn’t have known he’s had success in Hollywood. He starred in Bad Boys for Life, for example, which is probably how Ludwig wants it.
The reason I can say that is that it means I can judge these five songs as precisely that, and forget the fact that many will assume he’s gatecrashing.
Ludwig, apparently is a huge country fan. And it shows.
You know the drill, this is 20 minutes with its eye on the barbecues this summer, and it doesn’t matter where. “Love Today” is anthemic, celebratory and has a Stones like riff, but its rooted in the country tones of the likes of Eric Paslay or Logan Mize.
“Sunset Town” conjures up all kinds of images – and as I’ve said before this is why we all think we know the south of America even if we’ve never been near. The idea of escaping to a little place where the bar has a “regular crowd” and no doubt everyone knows your name, appeals. It’s supposed to.
“How It Rolls” – which has some tremendous banjo – is the mega hit. The one that is going to be the one, if you like, while “Malibu Blue” is the closest it gets to balladry and blows in like the warmest summer breeze.
It sounds incredible, and the musicianship is from the top draw. “Summer Crazy” is the “Friday night” one which these EP’s always seem to have, and it’s the one that Ludwig co-writes too. Whether it’s a snapshot of his life or the life he wants doesn’t matter.
The record is produced by Kurt Allison and Tully Kennedy (both in Jason Aldean’s band) and the cream of Nashville is working with him here, but that’s cool. What really matters is “Alexander Ludwig” is a superb EP and Alexander Ludwig is a name to …..watch, as it were.
Rating 8/10
