A hauntingly beautiful song, Melting Icicles, combines the essences of 60s and 70s prog-rock with classical, soulful influences. Alan Dweck creates a reimagined, remastered version of his song from the 2019 album Entangled Moments that is reminiscent of David Bowie and Pink Floyd. The simple but strong instrumentals are evocative of a plethora of influences such as funk, jazz, blues and classical.

The thin sonic texture compliments Dweck’s emotional vocals which in turn elevates the simple beauty of the track and succeeds as a “tribute to some of the great blues and soul songs of the past,”. These artistic influences can be heard in the use of soulful piano and soft but powerful guitar riffs which, alongside Dweck’s strong emotional vocals, allows the listener to join Dweck on an introspective journey through both his life and yours. 

This is brought even further with the artistry of the accompanying music video which features calming pastel images like paint dancing on a canvas. It is the perfect addition to the song as it encompasses Dweck’s artistic principles: substance over ego. The swirling abstractions dance with the song; they crescendo and fall with the emotional vitality of the music. Perhaps not a typical music video, Dweck focuses on visual art marrying audio poetry to create a sense of introspective wonder rather than featuring his own person. 

Melting Icicles follows in the successful footsteps of his previous album, Before, which gained over 142,000 streams since its release and was described by Fingertips Music as “simple, elegant, and powerful.” Undoubtably the same can be said for his masterful revitalisation of Melting Icicles. 

Connect With Alan Dweck

Visit The Website: https://alandweckmusic.com/

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“simple, elegant, and powerful” (Fingertips Music)

Revived and re-imagined, Alan Dweck remasters his track Melting Icicles previously featured on 2019 album, Entangled Moment. Entwining the soul and jazz of the sixties, with the blues, prog and world music of the seventies, Melting Icicles provides a unique experience.  

Understated, the laid-bare production which removes the unnecessary extras highlights the gentle and haunting nature of Dwecks vocals. This simplicity makes for a sentimentalism, supported by haunting string sections and masterful guitar.

“I wrote this song just after arriving in Singapore, probably one of the fastest songs I have ever written. Surrounded on all sides by a new and different culture, I felt a long way from home and somehow the idea, words, chords, and structure just fell out. It was all I could do to get it all down on paper.”

Presenting audiences with an accompanying video, Alans’s ethos of substance over ego shines through. These abstract animations rise and fall as does the track, giving the sense of breath and dynamism, the pastel colour palette complementing the sentimentality. Dweck has no interest in featuring his face within the video, wanting the focus to be on his art.

Remastering previous track from the same album, Before, saw Alan reach critical and fan acclaim, reaching over 142,000 streams since its release earlier this year. Dweck plays tribute to some of the great blues and soul songs of the past, with gospel inspired collective vocals making for a spiritual finish to Melting Icicles. Poignant lyrics set the introspective and emotional delivery of instrumentalism, allowing listeners to process the meaning in their won way.

For fans of Lou Reed, Pink Floyd, and David Bowie. Audiences can look forward to streaming the Melting Icicles Remaster on all digital platforms 03/12/21.

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Words by Olivia Barnes

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“I wrote this song just after arriving in Singapore, probably one of the fastest songs I have ever written. Surrounded on all sides by a new and different culture, I felt a long way from home and somehow the idea, words, chords and structure just fell out. It was all I could do to get it all down on paper” – Alan Dweck

Bringing the best of 60’s folk and 70’s prog rock into the 21st century, Alan Dweck has breathed new life into his beloved modern classic track ‘Melting Icicles’ from his 2019 album ‘Entangled Moments’ that combines a diverse host of influences that span genres like soul, classical, world music, funk, jazz and blues. He has fully remixed, re-imagined and remastered the track, which follows the success of Dweck’s remaster of ‘Before’ from the same album that has amassed over 142,000 streams so far and gained praise from critics and fans alike. Like ‘Before’ – his new take on ‘Melting Icicles’ has been accompanied by a gorgeously rendered animated music video.

Alan Dweck aims for the aforementioned music video to embody his own principles in art – substance over ego. Dweck, himself, has no interest in fame or celebrity attention and focuses on his creative output solely instead by matching a series of abstract animations that ebb and flow to the swelling crescendo of the attached single as the strokes of a paintbrush just simply progress the dynamic crystal colour palette. The result is a vibrant, yet grounded, marriage of audio and video that is only concerned with the crafting of the promising and inviting mood to match the refreshing single.

As for the single of ‘Melting Icicles’ itself, the recent rework opts for a very stripped back method of production to allow the intimate lyricism to shine through and it feels simple by design. The fluttering piano chords, the thin synth textures, the prominent guitar solo and the radiant whistling makes the piece feel more calming than haunting, with a rich emotional delivery of the vocals and sentimental strings providing the icing on the cake for the cinematic style punctuated by the technically proficient guitar work.

Describing his own tune as “a tribute to some of the great blues and soul songs in the past” in a press release, Alan Dweck invites you to a well-travelled life that gets conveyed and broken down for introspection by the artist by unearthing deep personal reflection with poignant lyrics which poetically dance across an introspective set of instrumentation. On ‘Melting Icicles’, Dweck frames the piece in such a way that allows you to form your own associations and remind yourself of your own memories to the tune of the work. The same, yet individual, result for every pair of ears.

Words by Jacob Braybrooke

Connect With Alan Dweck

Visit The Website: https://alandweckmusic.com/

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“I wrote this song,” says composer, guitarist and singer Alan Dweck in reference to the new mix of his song, “Melting Icicles”, “just after arriving in Singapore, probably one of the fastest songs I have ever written.” If you’ve not yet encountered Dweck’s work, then you’re in for a treat. He definitely veers towards a progressive rock sound, though he is an artist who would never pigeon-hole himself in any one category. Interestingly, Dweck is also well-travelled, having lived and work in many places around the globe. For Dweck, immersing himself is these disparate cultures has played a key part in developing his musical identity.

“Surrounded on all sides by a new and different culture,” Dweck continues, “I felt a long way from home, and somehow the idea, words, chords, and structure just fell out. It was all I could do to get it all down on paper.” The results are certainly striking. Opening with delicate piano and synths, the song soon expands out into the kind of lush, emotional music that Dweck is well-known for. Be sure to check this out – you won’t regret it.

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Keeping the spirit and ethos of progressive rock alive, peripatetic musician Alan Dweck is one to watch out for. We’re talking progressive rock in its best sense – thoughtful, intelligent and adventurous music which is highly atmospheric. Guitarist, songwriter and composer Dweck caught the music bug young, writing his first songs aged nine. As with many prog artists, Dweck cites Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour as chief early influences, but Dweck certainly brings his own sound to the table. An equal influence must be Dweck’s global journeys, which have seen him absorb cultural influences in situ around the world.

Now, he’s back with a brand new mix for “Melting Icicles.” “I wrote this song,” says Dweck, “just after arriving in Singapore, probably one of the fastest songs I have ever written. Surrounded on all sides by a new and different culture, I felt a long way from home, and somehow the idea, words, chords, and structure just fell out. It was all I could do to get it all down on paper.” The song itself is a wondrously delicate affair, largely driven by piano and synths. It makes for a great listen, and fans of the genre will certainly want to check it out.

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With a history of globetrotting, a penchant for the visual arts and a pallet of some of prog and classic rock’s finest; Alan Dweck is already a name of intrigue. Combine this with the emergence of a remaster of his hit track ‘Before’, accompanied by an otherworldly visualiser, and what you have is a handful of conversation starters. We got chatting to Alan to see what’s what…

RR: What to you is the best rock album of all time and why?

AD: A hard one. There are so many genres and sub genres that make up Rock music. One album that has always spoken to me is Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon. – You can listen to it repeatedly and discover greater and greater meaning. From the lyrics that ooze with empathy and insight into the human condition to the superlative musicianship and arrangements sympathetically built around deceptively simple songs. It has a consistent feel, sounding smooth whilst at a deeper level an inner anger bubbles and scratches just below the surface.

RR: How did you first discover rock music?

AD: I grew up with music all around me. As a child I found myself searching for a special sound amongst the bubble gum and the glitz that populated the airwaves. As a teenager I discovered Soho and in particular the Marquee club, the rest is history.

RR: How would you describe the current state of rock/alternative music?

AD: Fractured. We’ve lost the commonality of shared experience in a myriad of different colours. Subcultures and genres are now so small that they touch too few to result in a truly shared experience. We once listened to Radios and CD / Record players in a room with our friends. We now hide our music in our ear pods so that no one else shares them. Music has turned from a social experience into a personal one. On the other hand Spotify and other music sharing services put so much in each of our hands that it’s truly amazing. We can easily listen and discover to so many musicians all over the world. Problem is it’s probably too much and hard to know where to start. So we often end up getting fed something that sounds like what we listened to last time – So if we are not careful we can end up just listening to the same things. That’s restrictive not expansive. Meanwhile the musicians are ripped off whilst these services, internet service providers, hardware manufacturers all get rich from the people’s desire to listen to music. We listen to more music nowadays than ever before, yet the musician and creatives get less than ever before.

RR: Who is your current favourite rock/alternative artist and why?

AD: An Australian Guitarist called Geoff Achison because of his jawbreakingly beautiful phrasing and immaculate control over his instrument. And in the end the way he uses this amazing technique to express intense emotion.

RR: Do you see the genre evolving in any particular way at the moment? For good or for bad?

AD: As mentioned above, I see splitting and fracturing everywhere. There’s good and bad in it. On the good side there is lots of choice and many, many musicians out there for listeners to discover all playing in carefully curated styles that can be categorised to help listeners find them, On the other hand it’s too wide and more choice leads to greater confusion and less commonality in what we all listen to, That results in fractured music styles and ironically an ever smaller reach for musicians who quickly feel stuck in their genre.

RR: How did the ‘Before’ video visualiser come about? Any particular inspirations at all?

AD: I dislike videos of people doing things to music. I also dislike what I call the Celebrity mug shot kind of video: Lots of shots of the artists in different places, singing and generally trying to look cool. It all serves a cult of celebrity rather than a song or a genuine artistic expression. Whilst I do love much film music the normal subtext is that the Visuals are primary and tell the story whilst the music tells the viewer how to feel. I want to turn that on its head. I want the music to be primary – ie The music tells the story whilst the visuals should support it and enhance how the listener feels. The visual should support multiple viewing in the way that the music supports multiple listening. That is why all the images in “Before” are abstract, they are also all extracted from a single visual “the hand” which we see in full right at the end.

I guess I am trying to capture the magic we used to experience when holding a great album cover whilst listening to the music. The music came first and the cover second but the cover and artwork also became part of the experience of the album’s music. If you look carefully at the “Before” video you should find that in an abstract way it represents the message and story behind the song. I wanted something that the viewer could look at many times and still get something out of it. I also wanted the Hand visual to be the takeaway – the video to be an extension of the picture. But I guess it’s really in the hand of the audience and I just hope they like the experience. I am doing some more videos in a similar line. For some other songs and I also intend to use these videos in different ways for my live gigs. … Watch this space.

RR: How important is the visual aspect to your work to you?

AD: Music and Visuals go together like fish and water. I’ve always worked with artists and used visuals to inspire my playing and writing. In my old band we used to have an Artist painting a huge canvass whilst we played. When a strong piece of music meets a strong visual, the combines statement is so much more powerful and moving than with either music or visual can achieve on their own.

RR: What musical inspirations have you picked up whilst travelling?

AD: In many ways I’ve come to see similarities in different music styles and traditions that transcend their diverse roots. As a result I’ve grown an appreciation of what I suppose we would call world music. Drones and complex rhythms scales and microtones are all present in different forms across cultures. In many ways labels, even large labels like “Rock”, “Blues”, “Country”, “Pop” actually restrict us from opening our ears, by shutting us away from different scales and different uses of rhythm. I have grown an appreciation of so many different music types, from Arabic through Indian, Chinese and Aboriginal. Don’t get me wrong, I still love Rock and Blues music, it’s in my very core, but I also think that other cultures produce music that is equally valid and expresses powerful feeling. In the end it’s all music and for me “Good” music is music that touches an emotional core and moves me. That can come from anywhere in the world and just requires a musician to express it.

Follow Alan Dweck down below:

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Calling all prog-rock fans! Here’s a name you might not be familiar with, but won’t regret looking up – guitarist … More

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The London-based guitarist and singer-songwriter, Alan Dweck, recently released his latest single, “Before,” on April 9th. Having been all over the world, Dweck brings his worldliness to his music by bringing elements of progressive music and jazz to the singer-songwriter aesthetic.

In Dweck’s latest single, he invites audience members to look into the life of a traveling artist. “Before” touches upon this concept in a way that deeply resonates with listeners, both those previously exposed to this concept and not. The resonant lyrics with the bluesy instrumentals behind it truly capture the imagery that Alan Dweck paints for his listeners.

Be sure to check out “Before” on Spotify and follow Alan Dweck to stay up to date with his upcoming album release!

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Words by Brendon Gardner

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Hello all! Just wanted to share a new musical discovery which has come my way –  prog rock musician Alan Dweck. He comes with an interesting back-story, having lived around the globe and been in the business a fair few years. His old band were one of the first to venture into Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The Wall, of course, has become synonymous with another prog rock band – Pink Floyd, who of course played an historic concert to make the end of the East/West Germany divide.

Back to Dweck – it’s great to hear contemporary prog rock and he has some really great songs on Spotify. There’s also a cool, trippy video for Dweck’s single, “Before,” up on YouTube. Dweck is working on a new album right now, and is looking to stage some special live-shows, with interactive, spontaneous art, possibly crowd-controlled. It sounds amazing, and suitably high-concept for prog! Please do check him out.

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In the curious case of Alan Dweck, years of globetrotting – from France to Australia and even Hong Kong – collide in an evocative smorgasbord of progressive, jazz and blues that elevate Dweck’s poignant and exceedingly personal lyricism.

No better can this delicate balance of such powerful emotion and musicianship can be experienced than on the remastered rendition of ‘Before’ – one of the strongest cuts from Dweck’s 2019 debut album ‘Entangled Moments’. Led by its visually striking cover art – as Dweck strives to find the equilibrium between sonic and visual art  – ‘Before’ is a looking glass into the well-travelled life of the artist; the lucid motions of electric and bass being only a stage for Dweck’s, almost, autobiographical performance.

It should come as no surprise that ‘Before’ is paired with an equally as mesmerising visualiser to match the track’s own grandeur. It’s a monochrome world of smoke and liquids that is no small feat to ignore as the warbling bass and pained wails of guitar seem to drive this enchanting display; a perfect additional set of stimuli to allow the track to be fully realised.

As ‘Before’ does well to build anticipation for a forthcoming release planned later this year, its own intricacies and pockets of detail are more than a treat to dive between as we await what is to come.

Follow Alan Dweck below: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alandweckmusic 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alan.dweck/

Website:  https://alandweckmusic.com/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7KdbsXgjkFi560edyKcj22?si=LzhW6k8rQZiMr5H-Tezz4g

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Alan Dweck has released a brand spanking new single ‘Before’. The singer songwriter combines his thought provoking lyrics with a musical sound that exists at the meeting between prog rock, jazz and blues.

‘Before’ is a jazz piece that makes no compromises, and lays out a veritable feast for the ears. The song is laced with guitar riffs that smack of the Eagles, over a low plucky bass that forms a strong foundation for the track. Reverberating chords layer over this combination of sounds to provide a multi-dimensional listening experience. The song ends in a cacophony of wailing vocals and beautiful, Led Zeppelin style guitar licks. Alan Dweck makes savvy use of guitar pedals and augmentation to create a spooky and atmospheric sound.

Dweck is set to release an entire album following on from this track. As a widely travelled individual, who has wandered all over from  Australia to Hong Kong. In fact, he was even one of the first artists to play in Eastern Europe following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Dweck aims to make his music a tribute to the great blues and soul of the past. Using his background as both a guitarist and songwriter, he channels the music of the blues rock greats into his work. 

‘Before’ is an emotional piece that lays bare the soul of the artist, with emotionally charged lyrics that do not shy away from vulnerability. Dweck’s lyrics  are both well crafted and deeply personal, whilst equally leaving from for the audience to experience and interpret the piece in their own way. ‘Before’ is about setting yourself up to succeed before you take on a difficult task 

The London-based jazz and blues aficionado is fascinated by the meeting point of creative mediums. Alongside his musical work, he takes great interest in the visual arts. Through his work he aims to achieve the seamless blending of the visual with the aural. Dweck’s sounds are have elements seen in cinematic soundtracks, and evoke a strongly emotive atmosphere.

Alan Dweck’s sparkling new single ‘Before’ is a delight to listen to. Luckily, it’s out now, and available on all the best streaming platforms. Listen now, and while you’re at it, take a moment to browse the links below and learn some more about this visionary artist.

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Words by Ella Cope-Brown

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