Eric Alexandrakis Returns with a Kaleidoscopic Love Story on Love’s A Bitch
Image Courtesy of MINOAN MUSIC
By Katie Van Lew
With Valentine’s Day preparations underway, people everywhere are anticipating, or perhaps dreading, the holiday that celebrates love. Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Eric Alexandrakis returns with Love’s A Bitch, a love-themed EPK that encapsulates the multitudes of love.
The first track, Love’s A Bitch, introduces the album as a story. The narrator, who commences the album in a rhyme-induced, typical “once upon a time story” begins the track with, “There once was a guy named Mitch // who one day had said love’s a bitch.” The track quickly escalates from a “once upon a time” story, abruptly ending with “Mitch” being plagued by alcohol and heartbreak. This track, a quick synopsis for an album fortified by love, loss, and lust exhibits that love is not always the quintessential fairytale; in reality, love is messy, and Alexandrakis prepares the listener for the excitement, heartache, and healing that is attributed to love.
Immediately after the dark introductory track, Alexandrakis positions the track, “I Love Me.” In this fun and vibrant song, Alexandrakis pokes fun at rejection, expressing how he values himself above things as negligible as being rejected. The song emulates more of a love for life than the idea of falling in love. The lyrics and melody are euphoric, bringing the listener on a livening journey of chaotic bliss.
In the track, “Mediterranean Sun” Alexandrakis expresses the carefree nature of love. This track, reminiscent of ‘60s pop, takes the listener on a journey of pure ecstasy. The track, which encapsulates the pure bliss of warmth and pretty faces, manifests love as the never-ending-high that the season of summer so delicately emulates.
“Stalker Fever (No Sleeping in the Dark)” breaks the facade of love, exhibiting a love that is less glorified; a love that is ravished by obsession, coinciding with feelings ascribed to a breakup. The track encapsulates the obsession with love, and how said obsession can drive people to insanity. Alexandrakis sings, “You’re bleeding, you’re needing, We’ve never met eye to eye, But you’re thinking of me, I know for sure don’t lie.” The track begins with the perspective of a concerned boyfriend, before rapidly transforming into an unwanted stalker. The most tantalizing aspect of this track is the constant transitions from a slow and rhythmic melody, to one that is fortified with feelings of anger and desperation. Through this, love represents itself as a rhythmic pattern, before spiraling into a whirlpool of anger and obsession.
In the final tracks, “It Was Me” and “R.I.P. Unfinished Business,” Alexandrakis deviates from lyrics while focusing more on the musical component. Using his 16-track recorder, which was used on his previous album, TERRA, Alexandrakis ties the album together with a peaceful close; these tracks represent the end of the love story that he had sought out to tell. The lack of lyrics used in these tracks illustrates the notion that sometimes words are incapable of remedying closure, and that some things are better off being left unspoken. The love that is sought throughout this album is put to rest, with closure not coming from someone else, but within, and most saliently, through music.
In regards to “It Was Me” Alexandrakis shares the inspiration behind cultivating the first piece he had ever written.
“I had written it a few days after my 18th birthday, the night I had gone out for ice cream with someone who had been very special to me since age 11,” Alexandrakis said. “ We never dated, but we had about the weirdest and most dysfunctional relationship one can have. There seemed to always be something unexplainable keeping us in close proximity. That night I went home happy as a clam, and I wrote this tune to give to her, to express a few things I was never able to in person. My plan was to give it to her soon thereafter, but I chickened out…so the tune was lost, as was I, so she never had any idea it existed. Fast forward many many years later, rummaging through some old stuff and there was the song. I had completely [forgotten] about it. The lyric sheet had production notes to sound like Blondie, The Cars, Duran Duran, etc., whose influence can be found in the track.”
Love’s A Bitch celebrates the triumph and strife of falling in and out of love, as it cohesively unites the many facets of love. During a time that celebrates blooming love, Alexandrakis serves as a creative entity that transcends stereotypical love, delving deeper into the lightness and darkness of romance.
Alexandrakis’ latest creation, Love’s A Bitch, is available on streaming services everywhere.
