It's the end of the workday, and Alexander Gow has found time for an interview on his commute home through Melbourne.
"I'm sorry that I'm not in a quieter space," he says as announcements for train stops crackle in the background. "I've had to be really tactful with my time, and I suppose with music, too."Just make the most of every spare minute between work and gym while I can do an interview, and while I'm at the gym I can write down ideas for songs."
As a singer-songwriter, Alex works hard on his craft. Over the course of his 20s, he released five acclaimed albums of gorgeous indie pop under the moniker Oh Mercy, earning an ARIA Award for the project's fourth album, 2015's 'When We Talk About Love'.
Now, Alex's days are spent working as a podcast producer for the Australian Financial Review – work that is nominated for a Walkley Award this year.
However, he's still a dedicated and passionate songwriter, and his craft shines across his debut album under his own name, 'Dizzy Spell'. 'Dizzy Spell' follows Alex's last album, a collection of electronic pop made during the 2020 lockdowns and released under the moniker Perfect Moment.
"[Perfect Moment] was an intentional transitionary record where I knew that I wanted to put something out in my own name," Alex says, "but if I was going to do that, it was probably going to be a back-to-basics representation of my songwriting, which is primarily focusing on the acoustic guitar and piano.
"In order to help myself make that transition, I put out that buffer record in the middle just to make that switch to my own name a little less dramatic."
When it came time to record his 'back-to-basics' album, Alex was guided by technology. It was while talking with long-time friend and collaborator, and Oh Mercy drummer, Rohan Sforcina, that an idea emerged.
"[Rohan] had a little four-track tape machine that he recently had refurbished that he didn't need at that point in his recording studio, Head Gap in Preston.
"He said, 'This is what you need. This is the technology that'll define the sound of the record.' Using antiquated gear with limitations, those limitations are what I'm attracted to.
"It's an exercise in restraint, and I think that the actual foundations of the songs are elevated because of it."
The four-track tape machine is the kind of technology that Alex's songwriting heroes would have used – artists from the '70s like Harry Nilsson, Neil Young, and Randy Newman. It was the work of these artists that guided him on the songwriting he wanted to explore on 'Dizzy Spell'.
"I'm enamoured by songwriters that were really playful in their writing but also managed to be sad, seductive, funny, and incredibly engaging and uncompromising all in one song, in one line.
"I'm a fan of intimate songwriting. I try to make sure that my writing is still generous and invitational, showing that I am being vulnerable and I am being revealing, but you're also invited and we can look at it and laugh together."
Despite recording the album in April this year, 'Dizzy Spell' has a sparer, autumnal sound, withdrawing into quieter arrangements on acoustic guitar, piano, bass, drums, and adornments such as Rowena Wise's violin or the signature textural pedal steel of The Triffids' Graham Lee.
"It's not quite sun-kissed," Alex says. "It's post-sun-kissed. It's time for the scarves to hide the sunburns.
"No one [in the band] is trying to dominate the song. Every instrument understands that they've got a role to play and it's just to elevate the singing and the emotional core of the song. I'm not really interested in technical proficiency in music. It's all about the song for me."
Plans are afoot for small shows to perform these songs live commencing this weekend. For now, Alex feels 'Dizzy Spell' is the beginning of a new era for himself.
"Previously with Oh Mercy stuff, every record was a reaction against the previous one," he says. "I'm proud of everything that I've done, but the music that I made in my 20s was a process of pushing my boundaries and understanding my limitations.
"I don't think that I'm going to do that anymore. I'm happy and comfortable. I feel like I fully understand what I'm doing now and I just want to develop that."
Alexander Gow 2023 Tour Dates
Sat 25 Nov - The Bridge Hotel (Castlemaine)Sun 26 Nov - Northcote Social Club (Melbourne)
Sat 9 Dec - Goodspace at Lord Gladstone Hotel (Sydney)*solo mode
