‘Humming Blues In Four’ by Arthur Alexander | New Album, ‘Steppin’ Out’
Exclusive video premiere of ‘Humming Blues In Four’ by Arthur Alexander, taken from the upcoming album, ‘Steppin’ Out,’ out July 21st via Big Stir Records.
‘Humming Blues In Four’ is a change of pace from the raucous first single ‘Woman’ and finds Arthur in a reflective, socially conscious frame of mind — and literally humming — in a folk-rock setting that evokes the heyday of protest music with touches of the Simon & Garfunkel vocal sound and a lyrical nod to Bob Dylan. It’s just one more sign of the depth of styles mastered by Arthur Alexander on his dazzlingly eclectic new album.
“The melody came to me in a dream,” Arthur tells us. “I woke up and stumbled to the accordion by my bedside to work out the chords. I just fell out of bed, found out what key I had dreamed it in, and played it. First came the opening guitar riff to which I was just humming the melody since I didn’t have any words yet. It sounded good just humming it, so I left it like that. It reminded me of the spiritual chants handed down from the enslaved African Americans on the pre-Civil War plantations down south, from which the Blues was born. That realization made me think of various aspects of the human condition, then and now.
“Then came the first verse: “See lucky old man, he’s done it all, he’s been in love, he’s been to war…” With that, at first, the idea I had was to contemplate what happens to us as we grow old and look back at our life. But then, I thought, why not create a mosaic of sorts, each verse a snapshot of various people’s lives, from different walks of life; how they live, what they go through, and a commentary on our human condition in general. Between all the humming and four verses, I thought it was long enough… hence, ‘Humming Blues in Four’.”
For the song’s video, Arthur and the core members of The Arthur Alexander Band go busking on the streets of his now-native LA. “Director and cinematographer Michael Bulbenko is the brains behind the video, its concepts and execution. I just love the whole vibe his shots and location choices created. It’s a raw, no-frills affair, and it reflects the mood of the song perfectly. His attention to detail is amazing; he even managed to capture holes in my shoes!”
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