Alex Whorms knows a thing or two about authenticity — and shares her insights with the rest of us in her new single and video Too Many Love Songs, premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.
“The words, ‘I’ve written too many love songs / in the face of my fear / since I’ve been with you’ are a realization I was clinging to a high-profile relationship and ‘cool’ lifestyle I wasn’t truly comfortable with,” admits the classically trained pianist and singer-songwriter. “Things like binge drinking, partying hard, being in a relationship with a lot of PDA, and trying to be popular in general never felt right to me, yet there is a lot of pressure to act this way in social situations. Especially in university, I felt as though I needed to follow these stereotypes in order to fit in. The line ‘Why do I feel like a winner in someone else’s shoes?’ pretty much sums it up.”
Since Whorms, who directed the video, first felt inspired to write the track at a party, it was a natural fit for the video depict a similar scene. “At the party I attended in real life, I was there with my boyfriend. I noticed we acted differently in front of our friends to look ‘cool.’ I was fascinated by that. In retrospect, working on music in a more serious way over the last two years has helped me become more confident in myself,” the Hamilton resident reflects. “I no longer deal with the insecurity I expressed in this song.”
Too Many Love Songs will appear on her Sept. 20 EP Burgundy — “It’s named for the colour of the stage curtains that framed my earliest performances,” Whorms muses. “The richness of the colour seemed to match the tone of the EP, which has a lot of strings and thick, emotional-sounding instrumental arrangements. I am really drawn to that cinematic kind of sound.”
She’s also drawn to the likes of Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michaelson, Sara Bareilles, Tori Amos, Maria Mena, Coldplay, Carole King, Laila Biali and — most especially — Sarah Slean. “These five tracks combine my love for the grand piano with aspects of my other loves: Orchestral, pop and indie music,” Whorms says.
Watch Too Many Love Songs above, and keep up with Whorms via her website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
