'Air Conditioned Gypsy' is out now from Darling BOY
Real name Alexander Gold, Darling BOY is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and actor. He starred alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ Joe Strummer as The Clash's Topper Headon in the feature film London Town, and more recently was named as Musical Director of the smash hit musical All Or Nothing in London's West End having played Ian ‘Mac’ McLagan of the Small Faces and is playing John Lennon as part of one of the world’s biggest cruise ships’ resident Beatles.
He's also a member of The United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra, has been a guest of Dolly Parton in deepest Tennessee and asked to join two (that’s TWO) of Libertines mainman Carl Barât's bands. He's been a member of Joey Ramone's favourite band of all time, got talked out of setting up a London squat by Sex Pistol Glen Matlock, and been taken out for dinner by Moby.
Not a bad biography so far, but if all that wasn’t enough, Alex has also joined Supergrass’ Danny Goffey’s new band, switching between bass, guitar and drums.
But what inspires Alex on most, is creating music and Darling BOY is the vehicle that finds him well and truly in the driving seat, and Air Conditioned Gypsy is a release that spells-out his big ambitions and to make it of his own accord. Produced and mixed by Matt Terry and Gethin Pearson (The Enemy/Kele/Charli XCX) alongside Darling BOY himself, additional mastering for the track was completed by John Rivers (The Specials).
Released on 7 August and available to buy or to stream on all major platforms.
Air Conditioned Gypsy (the title taken from a lyric in The Who classic ‘Going Mobile’) shows the range of music that influences Alex with pride. It has a kind of Oasis like swagger and bravado to it, and weaves into this the wonderful guitar styling of The Smiths. There’s also elements of the latter day Arctic Monkeys and ‘Don’t Give Up era Primal Scream in there too. But although his influences are clearly on display here, Alex blends them together and fashions a style all of his own, which is light, fresh, and exciting. Towards the end there is a wonderful female vocal element, which Alex himself says is a small homage to Pink Floyd’s Great Gig In The Sky and is sung by one of the members of a very famous girl band - also one of the authors of that band’s biggest hit. But teasingly he won’t say who it is !
Written over a weekend while staying in Dublin, ‘Air Conditioned Gypsy’ is a celebration of being carefree, living on your wits and approaching life with a willingness to find hope in times of adversity. “We’ll steal a future... now I’ve found you, I’ll never see a day without you” Alex sings, his clear vocal style delivering optimistic words over intricately layered arrangements.
Recently having started working with XTC’s Andy Partridge, I don’t think it’s too far fetched to say that Darling BOY is one of the rising stars of popular music today. Watch out for more from him in the future but for now, enjoy the upbeat sound and carefree style of Air Conditioned Gypsy.
An excellent track and awarded a score of 8.5 from LiveWire Music
