Hungry for Lexa Gates
From Queens, New York, Lexa Gates began her journey in music when she started playing the piano at only 9 years old. Around 17, Lexa started writing, composing, and recording her own songs inspired by the New York and Los Angeles scenes. In 2019, the singer released her first originals on Soundcloud but it was during 2020 that Lexa presented us with her first 12 track album, “Order of Events” and her first EP, “Scum of the Earth”. In 2021, Lexa released another amazing piece of work, “Delirium” and the captivating album we are here to talk about “Hungry”.
“Hungry” is a bold and ambitious album, inspired by the idea of a starving artist, therefore the title. The first song, “Nowhere”, is immediately evolving, it stays in your head! The vocal part is very well detailed with effects that give the song a dark and mysterious character yet still playful with the echoes and soft instrumental.
The second track, and my absolute favorite, is “In a Mess”. It has a chill instrumental that repeats throughout the song but it is in the vocals that the song is constructed. It develops into different layers with an almost spoken tone colored with little vocal details. The instrumentation has a similar construction as the previous song, which gives it a conducting line of thought through the album.
“Mobbin” is the follow-up song, it has a fast-paced beat but still a lot of flow with a hypnotic piano. The ambiance changes when the vocals enter and the rap delivers a strong powerful presence. The song carries an unexpected final section, with sudden breaks and cuts that catch our attention not allowing the song to go unnoticed.
Right in the middle of “Hungry”, Lexa brings a dark and heavy trap vibe with an intoxicating repetitive bass. “Get Low” is the climax that was already being built throughout the album, with an exhilarating drive containing even a heavier vocabulary.
“Anyhow” marks a drastic change in comparison to the previous song, it begins with a more soulful R&B feeling. Lexa makes use of interesting word inflections at the end of the sentences, once again using repetition as a resource that accentuates certain emotions she is trying to transmit.
The next song, “Days”, bears a danceable atmosphere with the addition of white noise and ruff edgy sounds. It mixes Spanish with English giving it a seductiveness accompanied by a syncopated rhythm.
“Bite the Dust” starts with a lot of things going on right away, leaving the idea of the distance that is created with the spatialization of the “ah”. The backing voice makes it hard to concentrate on the main melody of the vocals however the pain and rage are noticeable in Lexa’s voice. It has a deftly produced mellow instrumentation combined with strong lyrics.
The album comes to an end with “Timbuktu”. The song takes our focus through a different strategy, with alerting sounds present on the initial instrumentation almost calling out your attention. “Hungry”, shows the many talents of Lexa, she has beautiful dynamic vocals, she can rap and she produces, masters, and mixes her own songs. She doesn’t follow rules, she makes her own and she definitely left me hungry for more.
