Alex James Kennedy is a 28-year-old songwriter and frontman from Newton Aycliffe in the North East of England, and his band holds a distinction that matters well beyond the music – they are the world’s first rock band fronted by someone with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Kennedy lives with the rare, life-limiting muscle-wasting condition and has made accessibility and representation for disabled performers and gig-goers a core part of what the band stands for. After a break following a health scare, the band is back with a four-track EP called “The Outcast,” and “Figure It Out Now” is the second single from it, out March 11th. The theme is the kind of societal pressure that tells you to have everything mapped out by a certain age – and Alex pushing back on that, on his own terms and at his own pace.
From a purely musical perspective, this song is catchy and features a surprisingly danceable groove for most of its runtime, with occasional breakdowns. The main riff’s tonality has this balance between the verses and choruses going from dark to light, or maybe not dark per se, but enough power to convey the determination that’s being repetitively – in an almost ritualistic way – said in the lyrics “I will figure it out now.” The halftime shift and the dramatic solo build in the bridge give the song real structure, keeping it evolving without ever feeling like it’s doing too much. Overall, the musical elements serve the narrative greatly.
What makes Alex James worth paying attention to goes beyond the songwriting. They previously made history by performing at The Independent in Sunderland from an electric wheelchair, a story that got picked up by BBC Look North and earned them radio play and interviews across the region. Kennedy’s whole mission is to push accessibility and representation for disabled artists and gig-goers in the music industry forward, and he’s doing it by making good rock music and showing up. “The Outcast” EP is shaping up to be a meaningful return, and “Figure It Out Now” is a strong reason to follow where it leads.
