*Huge thanks to GirlSpice for the amazing artwork* Title: “Forever Yours, Never Mine (feat. Nadia Berry)”
Artist: Alex Simms
From: One Life To Live [E.P] (2013)
Release Date: October 2013
Length: 3:52
Format: CD Single, Digital Download, 7” Single, Weekly Airplay
Recorded: September 2013 – Half-Moon Studios, Las Vegas, Nevada
Genre: Alternative Rock, Pop-Rock
Label: Songs to Love and Die By
Written: September 2013
Writer(s): Alex Simms
Producer(s): Alex Simms, Nadia Berry, Faith Browdy
“Forever Yours, Never Mine” is a track written and recorded by American pop-punk/post-hardcore musician ‘Alex Simms’ with guest vocals from pop superstar ‘Nadia Berry’. It was written by Alex Simms back in September with the intention of having a female vocalist feature on the track, having Nadia Berry feature on the song may surprise some fans of Alex Simms as the idea was even surprising to him at first,
“I think we’re worlds apart both as people and as musicians, so the thought of Nadia featuring on a song of mine seemed unlikely. But you know, it worked out well. She’s just about the biggest star there is right now, and sure she may be judged unfairly by people not into mainstream music but she’s so much more than just you’re dime a dozen popstar. She’s an incredible vocalist with an insane work ethic and she’s probably the best songwriter around at the moment. You’re gonna have people from the rock scene judge this song before they listen to it, people are gonna do that. But Nadia provides one hell of a vocal performance on this track, and you know what? She could be the next big Rockstar, it’s really not inconceivable. She has the elements for it.”This track will be part of an E.P release from Alex Simms expected to be out around November as a sort of follow-up to his debut album ‘Enigma’ which was released back in June, going on to cement Alex Simms status as a bone-fide rising star in the music industry, selling just under three million copies and counting, as it’s still going strong in the top 10. The album has gone on to spawn three hit singles, the most recent of which ‘Going Down Together’ went to number #1. It’s been confirmed that Simms will also be heading out on tour as support for James Urie where he is expected to debut a string of new songs during his life performances, ‘Forever Yours, Never Mine’ being one of them, fans of this song however will no doubt have to accept that his partner in crime for this track will be unlikely to make an appearance onstage, but they’ll no doubt hold out hope that she’ll make an appearance during one show at the very least.
So with the likes of both Nadia Berry and James Urie both acknowledging his presence in the music industry, it would appear that the rise of Alex Simms from almost complete unknown to rock n roll superstar is in full swing, the fact that he’s already done enough to attract a name like Nadia Berry to his music speaks volumes for this epic rise.
The E.P which is titled ‘One Life To Live’ was recorded in September and the beginning of October at the studio owned by Riot! In The Boulevard, Half-Moon Studios in Las Vegas, Nevada and was produced by both Alex Simms and Faith Browdy as was this lead single ‘Forever Yours, Never Mine’ which is set to be released on Sunday 13, October 2013 in a series of formats that include CD Single, Digital Download, 7” Single and will be made available for Weekly Airplay. All through the record label ‘Songs to Love and Die By’.
Song DescriptionThe song begins with a static buzzing and the sound of an electric guitar being plugged into an amplifier, Alex’s voice can be heard faintly over the studio noise,
“Ready to do this sh*t?” he asks, before shouting,
“Let’s go!” and the opening distorted lead guitar riff takes over and is accompanied by the powerful drumming which helps kick start the song into full action at a quick pace early on. The opening verse of the song begins at around twelve seconds in and the highly recognizable voice of Nadia Berry arrives, the opening lyrics to the song are sung with a power and determination,
“I think you always knew that I wasn’t gonna be another story to tell/I build up walls around me and I can make your life a living hell/And you knew all of this from the very start/That I’m not the sort of girl/That goes around giving away her heart.” the passion in her voices becomes even more evident as she almost spits out the final lyrics of the opening verse,
“There’s more to me than that/I look further than the bedroom/You know I look for something that can last/Something more to just hold on to.” all done under a fast paced rock backdrop, which continues even further as the song moves into the second verse where Alex arrives with energy and a trademark high pitched rock wail.
He fires out the lyrics at pace
“You want a life full of wonder/Well darlin’ I think ambition is gonna be your downfall/Things don’t work out like they do in Hollywood/It can’t always be silver screens and drama queens” all done with the backing band in full swing, drums pounding with energy and the lead guitar and bass guitars combining to give the song an unruly power and aggression, matching the passion of the lyrics and vocals incredibly well. This continues as Alex finishes up the second verse
“Show me happy/I’ll show you something fake/I’ve learnt to spot the broken smiles and tired eyes/This thing called life is nothing but a compromise.”The guitars dominate for a few brief moments, adding a down and dirty garage punk feel to the song, surely enough to convince those doubting the song’s rock credibility, some fears will be allayed as an instrumental break leads in to the songs catchy chorus which see’s both Nadia and Alex combining their vocals for the first time in the song and it proves worth the wait as the male/female combination works a treat with the lyrics but more specifically the tender high pitched rock wail of Alex seems to fit into place with a passionate feminine rock vocal delivery from Nadia as they sing the chorus in unison,
“Maybe love doesn’t exist/Maybe the sun won’t ever shine/Maybe I’m forever yours/Maybe you’re never mine/Maybe hearts just break and bend/Maybe this is the end/Maybe I’ll try holding on/Maybe love is dead and gone.”Another brief guitar breakdown allows both Alex and Nadia to catch their breaths and leads into a vocal trade-off between the two for the final verse of the song, Alex starts things off at pace,
“Fairytale stories all hopes and glories/They’re the cause for the blind optimism/Making people believe in a lie.” Nadia then arrives in style, delivering a knockout blow to both hope and faith in love with the following lyrics,
“We all know that it hurts the harder we try/So maybe we should all stop trying/That could put a stop to the endless crying.” and the two combine vocals for one final time as the chorus returns to close out the energetic rock song.
Songwriter’s Comments“I’ve been working on some new music since I released my debut album back in June. Seeing how the kids react to those songs live is a f*cking unreal experience, I gotta say it’s just mind-blowing on so many different levels. I’ve been there, ya know? I’ve been in the sweaty crowds, jumping up and down and believing in every single word that the band sings. It’s an amazing thing to be surrounded by so many people and having that feeling that we’re all believing in the same thing. So when I write songs, I’m usually thinking about those kids that are gonna be listening to it and thinking about whether it’s gonna sound awesome live or not. I hope that with experience it gets a little easier to figure out which songs are gonna work better live and which ones aren’t, it’s a very fine line but sometimes you just know and I feel like this is one of those songs that’s gonna get the insane mind-blowing reaction, because it’s relatable. The song isn’t giving you the answers, it’s just saying to the audience that we’re the same, we don’t have it figured out and that’s okay.
Having somebody like Nadia Berry agree to feature on the track was a massive surprise, I was looking for somebody to feature on the track and I don’t think there was ever a point where I thought this collaboration was possible, but to my surprise she jumped on board with the idea and the song and was down for whatever we threw at her in the studio. We went pretty heavy on the guitars for this track and it didn’t faze her one tiny bit. She owned it from the first moment she stepped into the studio, really nailed the rocker chick thing perfectly in my opinion and it really surprised me, I’m not sure if it surprised Nadia herself but it definitely did surprise me.
Naturally some people are gonna look at the collaboration from a very superficial viewpoint and I’m sure it’ll get slated by people that claim to be ‘real punk’ or ‘real rock’. But for me, music is more than just labels. I can be a called a sell-out a million f*cking times for all I care, it doesn’t have an effect and it won’t ever have an effect. The fact is that two people came together for a song, two people that you wouldn’t naturally put together and it worked. At least I believe that it worked, I really f*cking believe in the song and I think Nadia is just about as rock and roll as any female in the music industry today. All I ask from the fans is that they listen to the song, give it a fair chance, if you don’t like it then that’s fine so long as you’ve given it a shot. But I seriously think a lot of em’ will be surprised and will enjoy the song.
Thanks for listening, peace!"
– AlexLyricsKey;
Dark Blue = Alex Simms Vocals
Purple = Nadia Berry Vocals
Black = Combined Vocals“I think you always knew that I wasn’t gonna be another story to tell
I build up walls around me and I can make your life a living hell
And you knew all of this from the very start
That I’m not the sort of girl
That goes around giving away her heart
There’s more to me than that
I look further than the bedroom
You know I look for something that can last
Something more to just hold on to
You want a life full of wonder
Well darlin’ I think ambition is gonna be your downfall
Things don’t work out like they do in Hollywood
It can’t always be silver screens and drama queens
Show me happy
I’ll show you something fake
I’ve learnt to spot the broken smiles and tired eyes
This thing called life is nothing but a compromise
Maybe love doesn’t exist
Maybe the sun won’t ever shine
Maybe I’m forever yours
Maybe you’re never mine
Maybe hearts just break and bend
Maybe this is the end
Maybe I’ll try holding on
Maybe love is dead and gone
Fairytale stories all hopes and glories
They’re the cause for the blind optimism
Making people believe in a lie
We all know that it hurts more the harder we try
So maybe we should all stop trying
That could put a stop to the endless crying
Maybe love doesn’t exist
Maybe the sun won’t ever shine
Maybe I’m forever yours
Maybe you’re never mine
Maybe hearts just break and bend
Maybe this is the end
Maybe I’ll try holding on
Maybe love is dead and gone"PersonnelAlex Simms – vocals, lead guitar, lyrics, composition, production
Nadia Berry – vocals, production
Frankie Fallon – bass guitar
Josh Kingston – drums, percussion
Faith Browdy – production
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