Music - December 2009

Alex Maryol
Face the Day

Play "It Could Be Love"
from Face the Day

Genre: Pop/Rock

Story by Emily Drabanski

Santa Fe’s Alex Maryol, 28, has earned a reputation as a rip-roarin’ blues guitarist with his albums They Call Me Lefty and Make Everything Alright, but in Face the Day he shows a more mainstream pop/rock side. His new songs are more introspective and closer in genre to those of John Mayer than his earlier work, which was more in the vein of Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

Maryol became a regional blues-guitar sensation while still in his teens. But instead of just performing as a blues-bar favorite, he studied guitar and voice in earnest, and last May graduated from the College of Santa Fe’s contemporary music program. Maryol’s studies have paid off—his vocal prowess and musicianship are stellar throughout this CD.

“I’m never really going to give up the blues, but I don’t want to limit myself,” Maryol says. “As an artist, I see the blues as just one color in my musical palette, and I like all the colors and want to work with them.”

Maryol’s new songs sound like they could have broad appeal on radio airwaves. Grammy Award-winning producer Larry Mitchell served as producer and bass guitarist, and has brought his magic touch. Maryol says they worked well together, and co-wrote the ballad “Living Life.”

On Face the Day, Maryol offers a variety of textures on both acoustic and electric guitars, which contributes to the album’s good pacing and depth. The hard-drivin’ “Down the Road,” with a steady beat from drummer Andy Primm, is reminiscent of a Green Day song, while “Leaving Time” has a contemporary country-rock feel.

There’s a sincere, heart-on-sleeve quality to Maryol’s new songs about love, loss, and the even bigger challenge of self-discovery. Two stand out: the very personal “When Everything Has Changed” and the resilient “Not Giving Up Again,” where he allows his voice to really soar. While the melody of “Sometimes You Gotta Do What You Don’t Wanna” is catchy, upbeat, and danceable, the lyrics deal with moving on after a breakup. Maryol sings beautifully as he laments, “Sometimes you gotta do what you don’t wanna / Sometimes it ain’t a bad thing to suffer / Sometimes you gotta do what you don’t wanna / And maybe that’s alright.” His “Love Ain’t No Game” and “Always Looking for Her” will also tug on hearts, and Maryol sings and plays guitar with abandon on two ecstatic rock tunes, “It Could Be Love” and “This Is It.”

It took guts for Maryol to step out of his comfortable blues box, but hopefully this CD will become as hot a commodity as the chile served at Tía Sophia’s, his family’s restaurant.

For info: www.cdbaby.com and www.alexmaryol.com

Music - December 2009

Alex Maryol Face the Day

Alex Maryol
Face the Day