Most known for his Grammy-nominated collaboration with CamelPhat on 2017’s “Cola”, artist Alexander Kotz has cemented himself as a notable producer and DJ within the UK dance scene. On his second full-length release, he takes care to turn inward, stripping back the layers behind some of his most successful sounds.
This results in an emotionally charged selection of electronic and house tracks, influenced by the songwriting that Kotz focused on in his early years of making music. “With the album, I’ve tried to merge it with the indie background that I came from musically”, he recently said in an interview, “and merged all these house and dance sonics with some of the songwriting I was doing before.”
Despite Kotz’s indie beginnings, he later discovered electronica at university and was inspired by the prolific music scene in nearby Bristol with bands like Portishead and Massive Attack leading the legacy of electronic music. Kotz’s marrying of the two genres is evident in the melodic nature of the record, from the swelling strings of “Howl” to the aptly named “Beautiful Morning,” erupting into a chorus of bright synths.
It’s clear that every song on Little Love is handled with care, as Kotz takes into consideration the textures within each individual track. However, his attempts to match the impact of expansive production with honest lyrics often falls short. Immune to conventional tropes, the words behind the music fail to reveal the message that Kotz sets out to communicate. “I’ll lend you water / and share my wine / for the glimmer in your eye,” he sings on “I’ll Be Around” – a dedication of parenthood, but a sentiment that never truly resonates with the listener.
These tender themes, however, are stronger with Kotz’s more organic production choices. Snippets of his children’s voices echo through the album’s instrumental “Little Interlude” – an inclusion that feels far more impactful than Kotz’s forced emotionality in his lyrics.
Though Kotz’s intentions sometimes get lost amidst forgettable songwriting, his aim to transfer his honest confessions to a genre that is symptomatic of a lack of affectivity is admirable. Moreover, it is overwhelmingly full of hope – appreciative of the opportunities that come with the bringing of new life.
