Alex Izenberg‘s full band ensemble, Alex Izenberg & the Exiles, is a grand statement from an artist best known for his romantic chamber pop. His last outing, I’m Not Here (2022), put him on the map with the Randy Newman-inspired “Egyptian Cadillac”. Where that effort was laden with the strings that complemented Izenberg’s maudlin themes, this whole band outing allows him to explore 1970s AM radio sounds further. Considering Izenberg’s natural talents as a singer-songwriter, he delivers on those expectations and equally benefits from the full complement of surrounding musicians.
Izenberg has grown considerably as an artist, and the added musicians bring his music to life. The album hits in terms of songcraft, orchestration, and production. In addition, many of the tracks, such as “An Obscured Odyssey”, “The Wraith Behind Our Eyes”, and “Drinking the Dusk Away”, are immediately infectious.
When conceiving the record, Izenberg was only focused on one goal: to “make something built to last”. Not surprisingly, the vision was ambitious, not in terms of length but depth. Alex Izenberg & the Exiles plays like an opus, even if it resembles a regular studio album. When such weight gets attributed to each track, the downside is that it can sometimes fall short, like the saccharine “Threaded Dances”. This is an issue we see with other chamber pop acts, like Tindersticks, where their sentimentality grows tiresome. However, despite such imperfections, Tindersticks’ first two LPs remain some of the best in the genre.
Alex Izenberg thrives when building the song around a central idea, like the guitar lick on “An Obscured Odyssey”. What becomes readily apparent is how the phrasing adds to the composition in the best tunes. With a full band effort, that’s to be expected, but each instrument can momentarily be the focal point and then shift to the background, like on “Only the Moon Knows”, which is as much pedal steel as it is piano or lead guitar (not to mention the prominent drums and backing vocals).
For such a wistful record, certain songs breathe life into the overall work. “Drinking the Dusk Away” pulsates with swagger, especially the heaving rhythmic introduction, which sets the track apart from many other majestic tracks on Alex Izenberg & the Exiles. Sure, Izenberg’s breathy vocal style is not far off from Guy Garvey from Elbow; the songwriting is much more idiosyncratic. The guitar work on “The Wraith Behind Our Eyes” and the climax of “United States (of Mind)” are other such lively moments.
Izenberg’s vocals, at times, fade into the music so that it may take a few listens to discern their meaning. Many are witty, like in “Dreams of Déjà Vu”, when Izenberg says, “Some say all is fair in love and war / Oh, but I’m afraid to die.” “The Wraith Behind Our Eyes” channels Harry Nilsson in its ingenuity. It’s a song primarily made up of idiomatic expressions, whether it be “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” or “birds of a feather flock together” (and other non-avian phrases), even adding his own twists: “Everybody’s got a silver lining / And I just want to paint it gold.”
Alex Izenberg & the Exiles should earn critical acclaim based upon the strength of these compositions alone, but his style will only appeal to certain listeners today and, unfortunately, only specific indie outlets. Izenberg’s art achieves the same relevance as a songwriter like Andy Shauf, who, likewise, paints a vivid picture. Shauf is known for his still-life renderings, and Izenberg’s tunes are landscapes, with images like vetiver beyond the lake (“Only the Moon Knows”) and burning clouds of Venus (“Pareidolia”).
The tracks evoke a fluid sense of time and place, but they are nowhere necessarily identifiable in the 2020s. By that logic, one would expect his music to produce a sense of nostalgia, but the songs have a universality that could hearken back centuries, not just decades. To the extent that the album has a 1970s vibe, Izenberg roots listeners in something familiar, perhaps suggesting the music back then was as good as our forebearers might suggest.
Alex Izenberg & the Exiles is instantly familiar and a high point in the songwriter’s career. It demands attention, and even if it can be exhausting, it is well worth the expenditure. Alex Izenberg has thoroughly developed as a musician, and there is no limit to what he may achieve with this new team of musicians.