‘All We Have Is Now’ - Alan Dreezer
Many artists write about their experiences as they’re going through them, but life’s experiences never really leave us. It’s even possible to gain a new perspective on them after time has passed. Alan Dreezer has written an album inspired by many experiences he and those close to him have gone through. He’s called this album ‘Healed’.
British songwriter and musician Alan Dreezer has been a passionate maker of music since the 1980’s. His collaborations within his previous bands and musical outfits (including ADProject with Julian Albert) have prepared him for a solo career which began with his debut album ‘London E12’. Released in the summer of 2018, anticipation for the record began as far back as June 2017 with the single ‘We Have Come A Long Way’. Dreezer continued to release music from this album through to the beginning of 2019 with ‘To Do This’, ‘Now’, ‘If This Is The End’, ‘Unknown’ and ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’, with some songs accompanied with music videos.
Since the end of 2019, Dreezer has been putting out the singles that would make up his second album ‘Healed’, with music video releases continuing through the pandemic despite the logistical issues this time has brought. It would be two years between the release of the album’s first single and the full record being made available in September 2021. But the time it took to make was well spent in getting it just right.
Cars go by during the album’s introduction - ‘Transition (A Prelude To Healed)’. Then a lone violin brings in a string arrangement with beautiful clarity, the sound of which puts you in the room with them. With pizzicato mingled amongst the bowed sounds, Transition is both unlike anything else on this album, but also a curiosity enticing the listener on this journey.
Co-written with Elliot Richardson, I love the determination in Alan Dreezer’s lyric for ‘Any Way I Can’. Right from the opening line, ‘Not every day is good, I live anyway,’ there’s a resilience that continues on through to the end. Putting the production under a microscope, Any Way I Can is a pop song at heart, but the layers give you so much to listen to here.
From multiple percussion loops, to the bass synth line, the string stabs in the verses and the swirls in the choruses, plus the production on Dreezer’s vocal is excellent. He layers background ‘Ooo’s’, with a bigger gospel choir sound in the chorus, as well as the repeated line of ‘You can’t stop me’ in a muted tone. It’s all a lesson in how to construct and deconstruct a song during the track’s timeframe - a real positive way to begin Healed proper.
The music video, released in September 2020, is a bird’s eye view of a secret meeting shot in Essex, with Elliot Richardson also taking on a director’s role with Warren Woodcraft. It shows several characters arriving at an abandoned building by different means to play music together. The actual figures depicted in the video remain anonymous.
Continuing on the thread of positivity, Alan Dreezer writes about love in ‘The Twelfth Of Never’. While the verses are more direct, I enjoy the wordplay and vocal pacing on this song’s chorus especially:
‘Never before and never after and everything else has been a disaster. Never too close and never too far from losing myself, but then there you are inside me, until The Twelfth Of Never.’
There’s something about Elliot Richardson’s production on this song that reminds me of summer. Like being on holiday and lying in the sun next to a pool. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes me feel that way, but what’s important is that the pair have somehow embodied that and risen that emotion out of me, which all great music does to a listener.
‘It shouldn't matter anymore, But It Does. I know I can't forget you, it's because the closest I have known is when I was saying that it didn't matter, But It Does.’
The rhythm section is the driving force for ‘But It Does’, with bass guitar having a more prominent role with the programmed drums. The picking guitar elements are more subtle, whilst the lead synthesizer could only have been inspired by music from the 1980’s.
In terms of the lyrical content, Alan Dreezer comes from a darker place for But It Does. Inspired by a dream, which in turn had roots in a prior relationship, this song takes a look back to that time from a current perspective. Part of Alan Dreezer’s talent is to take something personal such as the story behind this track, then turn it into a lyric that blurs the line between intimate and relatable, satisfying both the deep thinker and the casual listener.
The first single from Healed arrived in September 2019 as ‘What You Didn’t Say’. Co-written with S BNJMN, who also wrote the album’s string opener, the mood remains as it was set by the previous track. Inspired in part by the production stylings of Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, What You Didn’t Say features background vocals from Essex artist Sove.
Where the music is concerned, it’s clear to see the noughties R&B influence, but the words are distinctly Alan Dreezer. The opening chorus lyric of ‘What you didn't say hurt more than what you did’ is something many people could relate to, but is often not a subject tackled in pop songwriting.
Alan’s home of Spain is a great location for this song’s music video. Shot in the evening and following the journey of Dreezer to a meeting that never takes place, the story teases the symbolism of Healed two years before the album would see full release.
The tone for ‘You Don’t’ is entirely different. Beginning with piano and featuring drums and strings with almost a trip-hop feel, producer S BNJMN returns to craft a track with Dreezer that is absent of the pop sound established on Healed so far. You Don’t could be an interesting choice for a single, and paired with the right kind of music video could emphasise Alan’s lyrics. The final verse is particularly full of emotion:
‘It don’t matter what I wish, it don’t matter who’s to blame, or how much that I still miss you, it can never be the same.’
The subject matter for ‘Equal’ is rooted in Alan Dreezer’s disconnect from loved ones upon moving away from the U.K. Like many people during the pandemic, Dreezer realised social media was no substitute for real connections. However, whilst putting together this track and releasing it in February 2021, Alan, like many around the world, couldn’t ignore the challenges society faced in that past year. The music video, again produced by Elliot Richardson, touches on elements of the pandemic, Black Lives Matter movement and the all-important U.S. election race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
By now you might’ve noticed Alan Dreezer’s artistry is dedicated to the Love Button Global Movement, including the proceeds made from his records. The initiative quite literally uses the power of love to spread kindness and positivity across the world, with the income made from their Love Button going to local and global efforts to make our planet a better place.
‘You could have had it all, everyone in this place, but you don’t know no better, you preferred The Chase.’
‘The Chase’ is in remembrance of Alan Dreezer’s friend and former songwriting partner Russell Aylett. This track is co-written with S BNJMN and is musically one of the lightest in production, featuring piano and keyboard layers over finger-snapping percussion. Though Dreezer’s lyric is more personal to his history with Aylett, one of the more simpler lines I loved hearing was: ‘Chase dreams, chase love, chase real, chase great.’ It’s one of many messages of wisdom woven into this album that we could all do with hearing.
The Chase is Alan Dreezer’s latest music video, and is different again from any he’s made before. It depicts Alan navigating through surreal digital worlds, most importantly created by Visualdon with Elliot Richardson and Warren Woodcraft returning to capture the live elements.
The album’s title track draws inspiration from a get together with some former colleagues of Dreezer’s. Realising the common ground of work no longer connected them, where do you go from there? My initial thought when hearing ‘Healed’ was the arpeggiated synth line reminded me of Ultravox singles ‘Sleepwalk’ and ‘All Stood Still’. In fact the reference is much closer to the present in The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’.
Healed is a positive track about how moving on can be a good thing, and the lyric reads like one side of a conversation, but with both parties in agreement on its content. With this in mind, it’s clear why this became the title of the record. My favourite verse is:
‘Who we are now ain’t who we used to be. That’s ok with you, then that’s ok with me.’
‘I Think That You Know’ introduces Rory Duncan to this record as a co-writer. This song evolved from a conversation Alan Dreezer had with a friend during a 45-minute train journey. I love the serene quality of the music on this track, which is at odds with the troubled story, creating a musical crossroads between despair and euphoria.
The phrase ‘I Think That You Know’ is perfect. A person pours their heart out, asking for advice on what to do. Often that person knows what they have to do, they just need affirmation, somebody to tell them: ‘I think you already know.’ It’s a conversation many of us have had, and another case of Alan Dreezer capturing this real-world emotion and successfully turning it into a song.
‘When you start putting me first, choose me before anyone else, say you’re wrong to me and to yourself, I'm gonna come round.’
I love the feel of ‘Same Old You’, which manages to be accessible pop with tinges of jazz, but have one of the most scathing lyrics on Healed. This would be superb to see with a live band, to not only experience the soft backing vocals, piano and waltzing drums, but to feel the passion with which Alan Dreezer delivers his lyric. Only the writer of words such as these could perform them with the sincerity of having experienced every emotion behind them.
How many times have you wished something could last forever? ‘Time Stand Still’ remains stripped back, with Alan Dreezer largely singing alone over piano with distant strings sustained beneath it. This bare approach is kept modern with Alan’s voice digitally processed, like we’re listening to it far in the future. The backing vocals singing the title of the song are a powerful arrangement choice, with the introduction of programmed percussion well timed to elevate the record to its conclusion.
In an album exploring memories and experiences, Time Stand Still is about holding onto those perfect moments as they’re happening. With our world presenting more distractions than ever, it’s an important notion that remaining in the moment creates a lasting memory that cannot be bought or sold.
‘Everything is fleeting, all we have is now. Everyone please listen, show you love someone somehow.’
Continue reading for our Q&A with Alan Dreezer. We ask about the making of Healed, the producers and writers who helped it into existence, Alan’s association with the Love Button Global Movement, playing live and much more.
1. Your new album 'Healed' certainly feels like a journey. When did you begin writing for this album? When was the moment you knew the recording side of the record was complete?
A journey is a perfect description ha! I began writing H E A L E D in late 2018 so it's almost 3 years since the project began. By the Autumn of 2019 we had 5 songs recorded and the rest written. I then moved to Spain and the plan was to travel back to the UK to complete the recording for a summer 2020 release. Then the pandemic hit so I had to set up a small studio here and then collaborated remotely to finish everything. I had never recorded myself or written without someone else in the room so it was a real challenge. However I now feel even more proud of this work because of all the obstacles we had to overcome to get it over the line. We finished recording in April 2021 and then I did a Kickstarter campaign to fund the physical release on CD which went really well and since then it's been about promotion and content creation.
2. For this album, you worked with Elliot Richardson, S BNJMN and Rory Duncan. Tell me about their roles in this project, how was the work divided up?
With every song I complete the lyrics and vocal melody before I start to collaborate. I normally have an idea of the song's musical direction at that point too and then choose one of the guys from there. Rory is a Jazz pianist so if it's a ballad or jazz influenced idea I go to him. If it's more RnB or Soul I go to Ben or if it's Pop influenced or more complex I go to Elliot. That's been the formula and it's worked pretty well so far.
3. 'Transition' is a beautiful start to the record, are those real strings? Did you always plan to give the album an introduction, or did this idea come later in the process?
Yes, the strings are played by Jess Bobby and the piece was composed by S BNJMN. We had an introduction on the first album too so I wanted to keep that going as a kind of signature style. It combines elements from the closing track on my last album "If This Is The End" and the title track for this one and signifies the journey from my upbringing in London to my current home in Spain.
4. Part of the beat in 'Any Way I Can' sounds like it was made with breaths. Is that you, or was a sample used to make that?
It's actually a combination of finger snaps Elliot and I recorded live with a sampled drum loop underneath. I think it brought a unique flavour to the rhythm for sure. Some people have described it as a tropical beat which is interesting!
5. I love the concept for the video to 'Any Way I Can', who came up with that? Tell me about shooting that video.
Myself and Elliot always brainstorm ideas before a shoot. We knew I couldn't be in the video as this was shot during the pandemic. I had also seen a lyric video by "Taylor Swift" that was mainly shot by drone and loved it. So we developed the storyboard with those two elements in mind. The team did a great job in my absence although I was on the end of the phone throughout the process.
6. You've previously worked in bands and collaborated with songwriters in those bands, but what's the best part of working on a solo project?
There are a few reasons why I prefer to work as a solo artist. Firstly I'm a bit of a control freak and that doesn't work well in a band at times. If I have a vision for something now I can see it through without compromise. Secondly I can work at my own pace. In a band in my experience there was always someone with something going on that would hinder progress or stop it altogether. I just got more and more frustrated with that. I actually wish I had left a couple of years before I actually did but hey what's done is done.
7. It's refreshing to hear a track that's so full of love in these dark times, was there a particular person or event that inspired 'The Twelfth Of Never'?
Yes it's mainly about my wife Carolynn. She has been such a great supporter of my music and made me believe in myself when there were times of doubt. But it's also looking at those feelings everyone gets at the beginning of a relationship. That feeling of hope and optimism when someone special comes along. It's kind of celebrating that really.
8. All your music and live performances are dedicated to the Love Button Global Movement. What inspired you to start supporting this particular charity?
Chris Martin from “Coldplay” spoke about the charity in an interview for the album “Ghost Stories” with such eloquence and passion I started to look into what they did and was so inspired that I wanted to do what I could to support them. All of the CD's for my KickStarter campaign had literature about the charity in them and my website has information there too to hopefully raise awareness and inspire people to support.
9. 'What You Didn't Say' features additional vocals from British singer Sove, how did she become involved with the track?
Sove is actually S BNJMN / Ben Duggan's sister so we met through him. She also features on the track "You Don't" on the album and did a brilliant job on both tracks. She is so talented and a real pleasure to work with.
10. It seems humanity is faced by one trial after another these past few years, what was the issue that inspired 'Equal'?
"Equal" started off as me talking about moving to another country and trying to maintain my close relationships back in the UK. However whilst we were writing the song the "Trump vs Biden" election was going on along with the BlackLivesMatter movement exploding and of course Covid to make me re-evaluate equality generally. We used imagery about those issues in the video for the song to get that message across.
11. 'Healed' tackles many different topics in your songwriting. Upon putting these songs out into the world, is there a sense of closure on your part?
No, not really. The concept for "H E A L E D" is because there is already closure, there is now a licence to write about them. It's about exploring difficult subjects but from a position of strength. Because there is distance and a different perspective once you have healed.
12. In 2022 you're hoping to put some shows on, where can fans expect to see you playing? What are you most excited about in terms of performing live again?
Well I'm hoping to play in London and my hometown in the UK Chelmsford and possibly some shows in Europe too. The most exciting thing about playing live is that immediate response to the music. And also meeting up with people that have been so loyal to me over the years. It's always special performing live.
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Visit Alan Dreezer’s Bandcamp page to purchase ‘Healed’ on CD, plus other merchandise and previous releases.
To stay up to date with Alan Dreezer, visit his official website.
For more information about the Love Button Global Movement, visit their official website here.
Follow Alan Dreezer on Facebook and Instagram @alandreezermusic and on Twitter @alandreezer.
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