Alex Ebert, the frontman of the Edward Sharpe And the Magnetics (yeah, Edward Sharpe is just a moniker) has a side project and a mp3 called ‘Truth’ is circulating on the internet. The tune begins by a whistling melody which could come from a western soundtrack by Enion Morricone, then it goes back into more familiar territory for people who have listened to the Magnetic zeros’ album because of Alex’s high pitched recognizable voice, whereas the ending ventures elsewhere with that light sax addition. It’s slowly cadenced, with ethereal and soothing voices in the background with give a lot of depth and emotion to the track, that transforms into a spiritual folk tale.
Although the lyrics remain mysterious to me, there is a lot of talk about darkness: ’And when the darkness come let it inside you/Your darkness is shining/My darkness is shining’, er,… is it me or there is a little bit of ‘Hello darkness, my old friend’ going on in the melody too?
Last spring, Ebert has recorded his solo album (which may be released early 2011) under the name Alexander, and ‘Truth’ is the only song that has emerged so far.
Ebert is a very busy guy since he is also part of Ima Robot, a pop-dance oriented band, formed in the late 90’s whose original line-up consisted of bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen (best known for his work with Beck and Nine Inch Nails) and drummer Joey Waronker (Beck, The Smashing Pumpkins among many others).
But listen to ‘Truth’, it’s simply beautiful:
http://soundcloud.com/the-good-badger/alexander-truth