Patrick Wolf had better watch out

Alan MX features in Gay Times' five bands who are changing the face and sound of queer music in the UK - here's the feature from the Feb issue.

Patrick Wolf had better watch out; experimental melodic Electro Pop star coming through. Say hello to Alan MX. Here’s his take on this crazy-queers-in-music lark: “People still make such a huge deal when someone in the public eye comes out, and it’s strange, really. It's worrying to a certain extent that people can still raise eyebrows, like Katy Perry has. I think sexuality is still a weapon in this industry as much as it ever was.” Girl, don’t even get us started on KP.

It would be an insult to compare Alan’s take on sexual experimentation against Perry’s ham-fisted attempt, so we’ll let him explain. “If I want to write a song about falling in love with a boy then I want to be able to do it as cleanly and cliché-free as possible. One of the songs on my album is about a gay boy who falls for a girl and then feels he can't do anything about it because he has established himself as gay.” His lyrics meander around the subtler nuances of relationships, through everyday narratives about things such as Captain America Videos. There’s something of Thom Yorke about our Alan’s music, though it’s more like playful, fun versions of songs from Kid A.

“When I think about it, most music is an expression of love. Or songs, anyway. The most common subject of a song is love or lust. If someone was to renounce or ignore their sexuality as a musician, I think it limits their accessibility.” With that kind of openness and some tunes to match, it won’t be long before you’re into Alan. Oh… did we mention he’s quite cute?

Alan MX’s single Warpsichord comes out on Feb 16th on Smalltown America Records, and is limited to just 1000 handmade copies. Check out www.smalltownamerica.co.uk