Alex McArtor – Queen City Sounds and Art

Alex McArtor’s Dream Pop Single “Endless Summer” is a Celebration of Those Perfect Memories We Can Hold Onto For a Lifetime

Winter is upon us at the time of the writing of this review but Alex McArtor’s single “Endless Summer” and its warmly nostalgic melodies is an escape to a another headspace. The guitar line traces the melody downward and highlights the edges of the mood of the song that is a collection of the best memories of times of travel, indulging pleasures, loving and being loved, savoring the companionship of a partner in these adventures. McArtor’s slightly husky voice embodying the synthesis of the cumulative feelings contained within all of those snapshots of carefree times. The guitar work between passages traces a downward arc in luminous single notes and evocative slides accented by subtle bass and drums. Altogether the song draws you in and whether or not you’ve shared some of the specific nuggets of cherished memories it is a song about holding onto those perfect memories in your mind to sustain you through more challenging times. Listen to “Endless Summer,” produced by Benny Cassette, on Spotify and follow Alex McArtor at the links below.

Alex McArtor on Facebook

Alex McArtor on Instagram

Alex McArtor Looks Back in Love and Nuanced Regret on Moody and Upbeat “Oxygen Thief”

Alex McArtor returns with a new single called “Oxygen Thief.” The guitar sound sits in the background like droplets of water on the ocean and the bass sound and percussion setting a steady pace as McArtor relates a story of love and conflicted feelings about its dissolution. Clearly the song is written from the perspective of having moved on but looking back with some yearning for what that bond brought into their shared life and the sense of romance and sweet feelings and how in some ways it felt like a relationship defined by a kind of unspoken dependence and McArtor sings about how she felt addicted to the love of her beloved like oxygen and that she was the oxygen thief. It’s a clever and revealing twist in the song that lends some weight and depth to a song that has such an upbeat mood underneath the touch of melancholic mood and ethereal atmospheres and a creative flourish that McArtor has brought to her body of work thus far. Watch the lyric video for “Oxygen Thief” on YouTube and follow McArtor at the links provided.

Alex McArtor on Facebook

Alex McArtor on TikTok

Alex McArtor on Intagram

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“Heart Talk,” the Title Track to Alex McArtor’s debut EP, Demonstrates the Importance of Goodbyes Over Ghosting

AlexMcArtor1_sm_crop — Alex McArtor, photo courtesy the artist

The title track to Alex McArtor’s debut EP Heart Talk, Vol. 1 is part goodbye letter and and acceptance that the romance isn’t going to work out. She outlines the positive aspects of the relationship and what sparked an initial connection but then all the details of how those connections didn’t run wide or deep. That McArtor couldn’t fulfill a role expected of her that wasn’t her own identity. The song is a gentle refusal of warping her heart and psyche for a love that isn’t suitable. With finely textured acoustic guitar rhythms and soaring electric leads, a doleful synth melody and McArtor’s dynamic and passionate vocals, the song brings you into that moment when you cast off your own personal illusions about someone you love and are ready to walk away while acknowledging your own feelings in the process and recognizing your own part in how things went down, which is the harder realization to swallow for a lot of people, especially when you’re young and don’t have as much life experience. McArtor makes it sound not just melancholic but a necessary part of stepping away and that is actually saying so rather than ghosting. Listen to “Heart Talk” on Soundcloud and follow McArtor on Spotify.