Alex Parks
England | Pop, Folk
RIP 2003-2006
Why you need to know her…
- Signature voice
- Amazing covers of legendary songs
- Cool look
- Signed to major label, only to literally VANISH a few years later
May I present to you, a chick with one of the coolest voices around who, for reasons unknown, literally vanished from the music industry almost instantly. Intrigued yet? You should be.
Back in 2003, BBC was running a singing talent/reality show called Fame Academy, before X Factor had come into existence. The only thing to spark the creation of the show really being American Idol at the time since it was created at the beginning of the reality show era. Fame Academy was rather short-lived though, lasting only 2 seasons, in which Alex was the winner of second season. Maybe you’re thinking to yourself – “REALLY? You’re covering a reality tv star winner of a singing contest… been there, done that.” Except you haven’t until you’ve listened to Alex Parks.
Alex was 19 years old when she was entered into this contest by her dad who saw her talent as something extraordinary. And it turns out – HE WAS RIGHT. Alex’s plan at the time leading up to the contest was to find employment in Amsterdam clowning – YES, you heard correctly – since she had just finished theatrical school. So music wasn’t the first thing on her mind, per se, but she had learned to play the guitar in her teens and had even won a small singing contest in a local pub as well prior to Fame Academy. [1]
“She’s got passion, which you can’t teach… an emotional authority to her singing “
Through 12,000 contestants, Alex rose above them all, thanks to a voice that was unlike any other. As one of the judges pointed out, “She’s got passion, which you can’t teach” and that there was “an emotional authority to her singing which stood out.” [1] Man, were they right about that. Her voice is husky, with vibrato that carries notes further, and full to the brim with emotion that you can feel when you listen to her. Like, she can connect you to music so powerfully, with her voice as the vehicle that gets you there.
Watching old interviews of her and parts of old Fame Academy videos give you a taste of who Alex was ad probably still is – a very reserved, soft-spoken girl who comes alive when she sings and performs for others. And that is telling, even in those videos, seeing as how she’s fallen completely off the grid. There’s rumors about everything from where she lives to the name that she’s going by now, but I’m not running a gossip blog, so none of that nonsense will be in this article. Instead, let’s focus on the good stuff… THE MUSIC.
2003’s Introduction has 7 original pieces on it and 6 cover songs including Tears For Fears’ hit Mad World, Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful and one of my downright favorite cover songs of most any artist – her cover of Coldplay’s first major hit Yellow. I never ogled over the song when Coldplay produced it, but somehow Alex made it come alive for me. It’s probably just the huskiness in her voice. I’m not sure, but I love it to pieces. The album peaked at number 5 in the U.K. and was certified double platinum in the U.K. and gold in Australia amongst a few other countries abroad. However, her follow-up album Honesty was even better, though solely in my opinion and apparently not in critics’.
Honesty is a noticeably different album compared to the more “commercial” Introduction and that’s a good thing, believe me. It has quite the strong start in the symphonic-driven song Lie, her voice short of shouting at times, with what could almost be perceived as passionate cracks in her voice from time to time when she’s really belting it out. Yet, what one would think are imperfections, are not imperfections at all… they are so powerful! They are what make up Alex. Next up is Out of Touch, a song that I would set on loop and fall sleep to during my college years, due to her soothing voice. Though the third track Looking For Water was chosen as the first single for the album before it was released, it’s second single Honesty, also the album’s title, was the mightier of the two, being more upbeat and catchy than it’s predecessor. Honesty actually cracked the U.K. charts at number 56, though at a substantially lower ranking of her previous singles. Yet, numbers are just numbers and the music can speak for itself.
Alex vanished almost as quickly as she came to fame, shortly after the release of Honesty. And when I say “vanished”, I mean VANISHED, which is SUPER HARD to do in today’s digital world, yet she has managed to do so. Like, good luck being an internet sleuth and finding her, because she’s made it pretty hard to do so and probably for good reason. Whether it was the pressure of stardom, unhappiness or otherwise, who knows? She does. We don’t. Her niche and sound may never be realized to it’s fullest potential due to her abandonment of the music industry, but a girl can dream, right? I’m a dreamer and I believe that if I was astounded by her second album as much as I was, her sound today would be nothing short of spectacular. Come back Alex… this modern day music world needs something as refreshing and emotionally drawing as your voice and music are. You are missed.
Best regards,
-A
P.S. most of her official videos have been removed from Youtube, which is a shame, but here are is something just as peachy.
References
[1] BBC Bio
If You Like…
Annie Lennox
Natalie Imbruglia
Listen To
Yellow
Cry
Sferikul 