Allie X - CollXtion VI (2016)

The fourth collection of superb unreleased tracks from Allie X also comes from 2016, and they form the final volume in my addition to her CollXtion series.  

Track listing

01 Make Me Go (Da Da Da)

02 Savior

03 All I Want Is To Be With You

04 High Horse

05 Offering

06 Purge

07 Blindspot

08 Let It Die

09 Portal

10 Ugly

11 Happy Tears

12 Lifeline

13 Petals

14 Work Us Out

15 A Night Like This

16 For Real

17 Permanent Marker

18 Better

19 I Don't Wanna Fall In Love

Allie X - CollXtion V (2016)

For the third collection of unreleased tracks from Allie X we move on to what I think is an outstanding collection of songs that were recorded in 2016, and which make up volume 5 in this extension of her CollXtion series.  

Track listing

01 Sculpture
02 Why You Wanna (O Chad)
03 Elijah
04 Aurora
05 Glam (Love Me Forever)
06 I Take Ut Back

07 MASTERpeace
08 I'm Not Gonna Tell My Boyfriend
09 Paradise
10 One Day And One Night
11 Tongue Tied
12 Could This Be Destiny
13 Chad Redux

Allie X - CollXtion IV (2015)

This second collection of unreleased tracks from Allie X was also recorded in 2015, and forms volume VI in her CollXtion series.  

Track listing

01 Hunter And The Prey
02 Summer '98
03 Boom Boom
04 Double Dutch
05 Not Broken
06 After The Flame
07 Fast Cars
08 Glow
09 Intervention

10 Didn't Start The War (Interlude)

11 Coma

12 Doorbell
13 You Only Live When You Know What You're Dying For

14 Losing My MInd
15 Never Again

16 You Don't Scare Me

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

Allie Hughes - The Hard Way (2011)

In 2008 Allie Hughes took part in CBC Television's 'How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?', the Canadian version based on the UK series of the same name, which was searching for a singer to play the part of Maria in the stage show of 'The Sound Of Music'. She performed 'My Favourite Things' from the show and 'It's Oh So Quiet' by Björk, but was eliminated after two weeks. She released her second demo album that same year, titled 'Ladies And Gentlemen', which included some songs from her first album alongside some new recordings. In 2009 she recorded her debut studio album, collaborating with Leon Taheny, Dave Newfeld of Broken Social Scene, and Adam King of Run With Kittens. It was titled 'The Hard Way', and was initially set to be released in late 2010, but was then delayed to 2011, until it was ultimately scrapped later that year. She released a 4-track self-titled extended play in 2010, which included four songs from the proposed album, and which are the only officially released tracks from the project. Following the cancellation of 'The Hard Way', Hughes developed her synth-pop and electronic inspired band, ALX, in late 2011, releasing their debut and only single, 'I Will Love You More' in March 2012, and they 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 after adopting the name Allie X she began working with producers Cirkut and Billboard. In early 2014 she released her debut single under the Allie X name, 'Catch', and it received praise from multiple sources, kick-starting a second career under the new name. She finally managed to get her music officially released by Twin Music Records, issuing numerous singles and three albums, and so as a reminder of what she was doing when she started out, here is her second shelved album, 'The Hard Way' from 2011, and you can definitely hear the progression of her music, from that idiosyncratic debut to this much more mature and assured sophomore effort.   

Track listing

01 Overture
02 Rolling Days  
03 Damaged Nail 
04 The Hard Way 
05 Stars (feat. Darcy Rego) 
06 Elevator 
07 I Will Love You More 
08 Headmaster 
09 O Chad 
10 Mistake  

Allie Hughes - Waiting For The Prize (2006)

Alexandra Ashley Hughes (better known by her stage name of Allie X) was born on 31 July 1985 in Oakville, Ontario, and after studying classical piano and voice at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, and graduating from Sheridan College's Musical Theatre Performance program, she started her musical career in Toronto around 2006. At this time she was performing indie pop, indie rock, jazz, and electronic music, and she recorded the 10-track demo album, 'Waiting For The Prize', in 2006, while still in college. The album was pressed up on CD and sold at her early shows in 2006 and 2007, and takes inspiration from both jazz music, and piano-based alternative sounds. Said to be inspired by artists such as Kate Bush, Regina Spektor, and Norah Jones, the album pairs piano-pop and jazz instrumentals with sassy, quirky lyrics. It actually gained a review by John Arkelian for artsforum.ca, who described 'Bad Luck' as "a jazzy, bluesy song that sounds like a show tune from the musical stage", 'That's Just Me' as "an ironic juxtaposition of down-to-earth lyrics and an operatic lament", and 'What Have I Done?' as "a serious reverie on life’s choices, with a hint of the bittersweet". Those early CD's are now impossible to find, so here is Allie X's very first album, while still performing under the name Allie Hughes. 

Track listing

01 That's Just Me 
02 Gorilla Sounds
03 Bad Luck
04 Irish Colcannon 
05 What Have I Done?
06 Oyster Song
07 Perfect Day 
08 Brand New 
09 Fall
10 Something Isn't Right