Chart-topping pianist & composer Alexis Ffrench shares the latest single ‘Once’ from his upcoming album ‘Classical Soul Volume One’, set for release this Autumn.
‘Once’ represents a fleeting moment of beauty, it follows his previous singles ‘Reverie’ and ‘The Way It Was’. The single acts as a bridge for the referencing of idealising the past and the beauty of nostalgia which is the main theme of Alexis’ upcoming album.
A pioneering superstar of Classical Soul, Alexis’s sound refuses to be penned in by genre, time period, or by expectations of the kind of musician he should be. Rather than leaning into the narrow, traditional understandings of ‘classical’, Alexis instead leans outward, expansive in his perspective, drawing on a multifarious mosaic of influences that takes the listener by the hand and leads them on a journey through a world of possibility.
When working on the single, Alexis took inspiration from Robert Frost’s poem ‘Nothing Gold Can Say’, he draws beauty from feelings and environment instead of musical sound. Known for his innovative approach when composing music, showing appreciation for tradition while advocating for modernism, Alexis explains his method when creating ‘Once’ and the reasons why this single plays a crucial role in structuring the album:
“it’s a short piece, but it’s really important on the album because of how it’s situated, the pieces that straddle it almost, and the role that it plays, the device that it is in, I guess, defining a part of my life that was so important, so formative
I wanted to reference the music which formed a major part of me in terms of my sense of identity and feelings about the world, but I wanted to build symphonic pillars from the echoes of soul classics, not in a musical way, but in a way which referenced, tangentially at least, that sense of pride, nostalgia, and profound sense of identity.”
Alexis Ffrench brings piano to the mainstream. Whether it’s performing at the King’s Coronation Concert in 2023 to an audience of over 18 million viewers, hosting his Apple Music show after Elton John’s Rocket Hour, performing at major music festivals & sold out venues worldwide, hosting nationwide music education masterclasses, or posting covers of today’s hits by Central Cee, Billie Eilish and more to an enthusiastic social media audience, Alexis is passionate about music being accessible to all.
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