Take Lounge and Trip-Hop and add on some Latin flair and you have a little idea of what Alec Hutson brings to the musical spectrum. That’s right, it’s a merging of styles you didn’t know you ever needed or wanted to hear together and yet it works. Incredibly well. On Reactions. Which you can get now!
But read this review first.
“After You’re Gone” begins Reactions and barely hints at what’s to come as this pretty straightforward ditty smoothly rocks into your earholes and introduces a trumpet that’ll be haunting your very soul later on in the album. Said trumpet is very prominent during the almost mystical “Truth Seeker” which changes up the mood considerably as the sequenced beats laid down by Dephrase (Who, in addition to his role as beats and electronics guru, served as the co-producer on Reactions) provide a consistent pulse in this beautiful number that also highlights Hutson’s silky croon.
“Fig Tree”, meanwhile, digs even deeper and features an electro breakdown akin to a Timbaland-produced jam with that aforementioned haunting trumpet in the background to throw listeners even more but y’know what? Yeah, it works!
“Oil” gets a steady groove goin’ with Strmic’s drumming interplaying with Tyler Lasts’ bass work quite nicely, accented by funky keyboard lines. Then “Who You Are” comes at listeners and is like JT when he was young and hungry (Without the fabulous sax playing by Hutson, mind you) to prove himself as a solo artist while “Going Home” brings to mind some of Jeff Buckley’s greatest musical accomplishments. Closing out Reactions is a double dose of local musician (And recent BMA winner) Cliff Notez who brings his lyrical flow to the bluesy “Zebra” and to the epic stream of consciousness outro, “There and Back Again”.
And that’s part of what makes Reactions so great is that with repeated listens, the dense intricacies of each song yield new discoveries each and every time you listen. So go forth and enjoy over and over now!
Reactions is out now on Warbird Creative and can be gotten by clicking here or here. For the latest on Alec Hutson, including live shows and more, head on over here or here. And if that wasn’t enough info for ya, Hutson will also be doing a special show on March 1st at Lizard Lounge playing Radiohead’s In Rainbows in full with support from Reactions collaborator Cliff Notez. Details on that can be found here.