ALEX CANION COINS THE TERM ‘SORROWTAR’ IN SOLO HYMN ABOUT DEPRESSION, TAKEN FROM HIS FORTHCOMING EP ‘BIRTHMARK’

ALEX CANION OF PERTH BASED PROG METAL ACT VOYAGER LAUNCHES SOLO MATERIAL 

‘BIRTHMARK’ – COMING OCTOBER 25TH [INDEPENDENT]

Best known for being the charismatic bass player & backing vocalist of the Australian progressive metal band VOYAGER, Perth based musician Alex Canion takes the helm to navigate through the murky waters of alternative/heavy rock with his debut solo release, ‘Birthmark’.

Recorded in a guitar shop after hours and over the course of  6 years, ‘Birthmark’ will release independently on 25th October 2021, Alex’s birthday. To celebrate the launch of the EP and finally having these songs release to the world, he has now released the music video for the song ‘Sorrowtar’, a term he coined during his throes with depression.

Alex says this about Sorrowtar

“What might be the best song I’ve written yet, Sorrowtar is an ode to my battle with depression. Sorrowtar is a word I made up to try and describe what I was feeling inside at that time. The way I visualised it was as if I had black tar stretched out like tree roots from the core of my being, spreading throughout my body and infecting my organs and bones like cancer. It literally impacted every aspect of who I was and how I thought about myself. The crazy thing is that there’s always that little bit of Sorrowtar deep inside, I just need to make sure it’s not being fed! From the outset, Nine Inch Nails always came to mind as a stylistic inspiration for this song, particularly The Downward Spiral album. I first heard it when I was 11 years old and it has an especially dark aura to me which was what I was trying to replicate in this song. When played on acoustic guitar there are some sickeningly dissonant guitar voicing, which I’m proud of. This song paired with the stunning video clip my oldest friend Matt Pitcher put together, I think it might be the standout track on the EP for me personally.”

For the music video, Alex hired the efforts of good friends and local Perth musicians including a drummer you might recognise as Ashley Doodkorte, also from Voyager. The other musicians are Ben Court on Bass and Ari Remund on Piano, with Alex at the helm on guitars and vocals.

Birthmark is Alex’s first foray into the world of solo artists and features not only bass parts composed and performed by Alex, but also sees him take on drums, guitar and lead vocal duties as well, resulting in an emotive and personal journey where Alex can showcase his multi instrumentalist talents.

The title of the EP was inspired by the birthmarks on Alex’s left side of his face, symbolising his first solo effort in the music world and celebrating that which makes us all unique in our own way.

‘Birthmark’ arrives on 25th October and you can pre-order digitally on Bandcamp:

Birthmark | Alex Canion (bandcamp.com)

Track List for ‘Birthmark’

To The Fore

Mote of Dust

Habitual

Sorrowtar

Dream A Dream

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