Wasters And Freaks

"Alex Valentines magical debut is a thing of plaintive beauty wich sends the likes of Zero 7 hurtling into oblivion. Supported by the music scenes finest, including drummer Dylan Howe. Valentine offers up the life affirming single Sunshine flanked by tales of awkward heartache and nervous affairs. Damien Rice will be quaking in his boots. In fact, even if you hate Rice youll love this if you have an ounce of romanticism in your body."Notion Magazine

"Quality songs - most contain a stark beauty that marks Valentine out as a talent to watch for the future. Well worth seeking out" Indie London

"Alex Valentine comes into the public eye this August with his first full album Local History. Singer-songwriters are much the in thing at the moment, almost as common as the wealth of bland Britpop esque bands making it big, but Valentine has a CD behind him that will stand him in good stead to break into the mainstream along with Rice, Blunt et al.In fact, this 12 track album sees Valentine expanding the singer, songwriter genre with thicker textures applied to his songs. Acoustic guitars aplenty there may be, but more care has been taken with the rest of the arrangements: at one point programmed drums feature, strings layer on top of the melodies, cars drive past on Truckstop Diner.
Alex Valentine is gifted with the voice alone to attract attention. At the higher end of his range, Valentine is plaintive, while always restrained, and in his lower register his vocals are warm and rich. As a songwriter, there are standout tracks that highlight Valentines talent. The sublime chord changes in Spinning Wheel and The One You Want, the gentle, mournful textures of Lovelost Letter Home and Did I Try Too Hard?, and the heart-achingly poignant harmonies on stunning single Sunshine. Lyrically, Alex Valentine excels on Truckstop Diner, with the story of a twisted relationship between a young boy and an older woman. The high points of this album, portraying the undoubted talent here, should be enough to see this album picked up on and critically acclaimed." 4/5 GodisintheTV.

"Through his music Alex has redefined the term beautiful" North Magazine

"His voice is angelic, elevating his acoustica to ethereal realms." New Noise

"Alex Valentine is a London based singer songwriter, father of one, reformed gambler and every inch the sensitive male solo artist. This, Valentines recently completed debut album, appears to be long overdue mainly by his own standards. Having served his apprenticeship in a number of bands and thus a veteran of the toilet circuit, his early solo performances included springing out of a box onstage on TV in Romania to sing his songs onstage surrounded by bunny girls and then being forced to flee to the hills from the angered authorities for spouting comments against the country's new government. Ive always been a firm believer that there just arent enough troublemakers in the sentimental climate of folk rock.
When not fighting a gambling addiction or challenging political regimes, Alex Valentine has developed into a somewhat accomplished tunesmith. The album's opening track Spinning Wheel is an open letter of regret to his friends about his gambling past and is the kind of beautifully crafted melodic pop that lends comparisons to the likes of post britpopsters Richard Ashcroft and David Gray.
Second track Sunshine maintains the up beat tempo but reveals a more mellow tone, and reveals the dark pessimism in his semi autobiographical lyrics which firmly sets the mood for the themes of loneliness and melancholy that prevail throughout this album. The emotive wordplay fused with the hints of Joni Mitchell and Simon Garfunkel in the elegant folk stylings make for a potentially impressive debut although the thing that really separates this album from consistently pulling at the heartstrings is that it's almost too polished beats from the production desk. This doesnt seem to dampen the need for wanting to keep the tissue box handy though. Songs like The One That You Want and Lovelost Letter Home aim straight for the heart and are a glimpse of what hes capable of .
Perhaps luckily for Alex, there seems to be a never ending demand for tender torch songs for the broken-hearted." Glasswerk