Photo courtesy of the artist
Over the course of nearly ten years, Alexi Murdoch has created a succinct but remarkably iconic body of recordings and, in the process, forged one of the most successful and unique careers in independent music. Millions have heard Murdoch’s music via dozens of placements in major films and TV shows.
His success story continued to unfold with the release of his newest album, Towards the Sun. He recorded Towards the Sun in a single night in Vancouver while on tour in 2009. Several months later in various New York studios, he completed the album with contributions from Jon Natchez, Kelly Pratt, and Kyle Resnick, known for their work with Brooklyn bands The National and Beirut.
With Towards the Sun, the reclusive songwriter found the kind of ardent champions in the press that he has long had among music supervisors, radio program directors, and prestigious concert series such as Lincoln Center’s American Songbook, where he performed to a sold-out audience earlier this year. The British music magazine Q awarded Towards the Sun four stars saying, “Anyone who harps on about how the songwriters of today don’t match up to those of yesteryear should be directed to this remarkable record…” PopMatters awarded it a 9 out of 10 rating, saying it “suggests this kind of holy silence.” When the album debuted on NPR Music’s All Songs Considered, host Robin Hilton called the album “the most alluring and fully realized collection of songs [Murdoch has] crafted so far…spare and intimate, but also expansive in their warmth and beauty.”
Previously, Murdoch released two proper recordings and one soundtrack. All his music has been self-released—on his own Zero Summer Records—with various partners. (City Slang, European home to Arcade Fire, Calexico and Broken Social Scene, among others, is now releasing his music on the continent.) The EP Four Songs (2002) was released on CD Baby, where it was, for a time, the site’s all-time bestselling record. Time Without Consequence, a traditional eleven-song record, was released in 2006 and has quietly gone on to sell 100,000 copies in the U.S. Nine of his songs were featured in soundtrack to the 2009 film Away We Go, directed by Sam Mendes and written by husband-and-wife team of Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida.
Last updated: July 1, 2013