Friday, May 24, 2024

Allie X - CollXtion III (2015)

Following the cancellation her 'The Hard Way' album, Allie Hughes developed her synth-pop and electronic inspired band, ALX, in late 2011. The group released their debut and only single, 'I Will Love You More' in March 2012, and had their final known live performance at the Hillside Festival in July, where they performed seven unreleased original songs and one cover. In July 2013 Hughes moved to Los Angeles to pursue a full-time career as a songwriter, but despite this she didn't stop working on her solo material, and as she had not been satisfied with her sound, she also spent time learning about sound design and production. Adopting the stage name Allie X, she began working with producers Cirkut and Billboard, whom she had met during her time in Los Angeles, and in early 2014 she released her debut single under the Allie X name, titled 'Catch'. On its release 'Catch' received praise from multiple sources, including both music critics and other artists such as Katy Perry, who praised the track on Twitter, calling it her "spring jam". Prior to the release of Hughes's debut EP, 'CollXtion I', two singles were released, with 'Prime' appearing on 18 March and 'Bitch' following on 6 April 2014. 'CollXtion I' was then released a year later, on 7 April 2015 in Canada, with the worldwide release being pushed back to 21 April, but when it was eventually issued it was well received, with Edmonton Journal's Julia LeConte calling it "a smartly written seven-song EP that offers up a smorgasboard of indelible hooks" and goes on to say Hughes's song-creating ability matches her spectacular voice. 
By the time that 'CollXtion I' was released, Hughes had amassed a large collection of songs which had been recorded between 2014 and 2015, and so she announced a project called 'CollXtion II: Ʉnsolved', which saw her release a collection of demos and songs on Spotify over the course of the summer, in order to shortlist the songs that her fans wanted to see on the 'CollXtion II' album. This project ended on 6 November 2016, with Hughes saying no new music would be released until the album was out, and it was first teased by her in February 2017, with it being officially announced for a 9 June release date. Before 'CollXion II' was released, 'Paper Love' was issued as the lead single from it, with 'Need You' following in May, and the album duly appeared on 9 June as announced. Now that her debut album as Allie X was out, she could think ahead to her second studio album, and 'Focus' was released as its first single in June 2018, but she still had all those songs from 2014/2015 which were sitting there doing nothing, and as she was writing new material for her second album, they were not being used, so I've taken them and compiled a further four volumes in the 'CollXtion' series, with volumes III to VI following on from the 'I' EP and the 'II' album, and 'Volume III' starts off with a collection of tracks recorded in 2015.



Track listing

01 Oh My God
02 Thief
03 Sorry
04 Debut
05 To Better Times
06 This Is The Jam
07 Remember Forever (feat. Noonie Bao)
08 Prove Me Wrong
09 Civil War
10 When/How
11 East Of Eden (Naked Lunch)
12 Stranger
13 Following The Noise
14 Break My Heart (feat. Johan Lindbrandt)
15 Reborn

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