Interview with Alex Orange Drink
We had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Orange Drink over Zoom video!\xa0
Brooklyn-based songwriter\xa0Alex\xa0Orange\xa0Drink, the solo moniker for\xa0Alex\xa0Zarou Levine\xa0of\xa0The So So Glos, is excited to present \u201cOxytocin (Luv Buzz),\u201d the second track to be lifted from the\xa0Friday, September 17\xa0release of his sophomore album titled\xa0Everything Is Broken, Maybe That\u2019s O.K.\xa0(pre-order). On the upcoming album,\xa0Alex\xa0explores personal subjects, including grappling with a rare and life-threatening disorder, heartbreak, never-ending teenage angst, and broken political systems. Half of the album was recorded before the pandemic in a party-like atmosphere \u2013 with basic tracking captured live among friends, family and lovers \u2013 while the other half was completed by a heartbroken protagonist reflecting in isolation.
Alex\xa0Zarou Levine\xa0has been writing music and lyrics since youth in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Most notably with his brothers in D.I.Y. punk outfit\xa0The So So Glos. There\u2019s dark subtext to his lyrics, which are often laced into bright, hooky outsider anthems. During a period in which his band went on hiatus and local DIY venue (and home base)\xa0Shea Stadium\xa0shuttered,\xa0Alex\xa0Orange\xa0Drink\xa0was born. The new solo project took its name \u201corange\xa0drink\u201d as a nod to the medication\xa0Alex\xa0depends on to treat a rare metabolic disease, Homocystinuria. As with his work in The So So Glos, by flipping a slang term from the ordinary to a new identity,\xa0Alex\xa0once again exhibited a gift for spinning a negative force into something positive.
On his sophomore record,\xa0Everything Is Broken, Maybe That\u2019s O.K., a permanent state of teenage angst manifests itself through even more hushed tones and sugar-coated sweetness than his debut, resulting in a more complex, vivid soundscape.
There is something eerily medical about this collection of songs \u2013 two contrasting songs about grappling with a life-threatening disorder (\u201cHomocystinuria Pt. 1\u201d & \u201cPt. 2\u201d), three songs about chemical addictions triggered by love (\u201cOxytocin,\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s Only Drugz,\u201d \u201cI L.U.V. I.O.U.\u201d), plenty of references to the intersection of technology and mental health (\u201cClickbait, Click Me\u201d), and a closing track that implies that a cure may be found in a return to the natural world (\u201cThe Sun Is Only Shining\u201d). Lyrically,\xa0Alex\xa0delves even further into brave personal territory, continuing to explore his own individual crises and life story in a world that\u2019s even more disjointed and damaged than before.
Collaborating again with producer\xa0Adam Reich\xa0(who was behind the board for an impressive list of classics from Brooklyn\u2019s D.I.Y. scene), dark subject matter is transformed into positive energy, enriching the music more than any of\xa0Alex\u2019s previous recordings. If the most cohesive and fulfilling music of\xa0Alex\u2019s career is the outcome of everything being broken, then maybe that\u2019s O.K.\xa0.
We want to hear from you! Please email\xa0Tera@BringinitBackwards.com.
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