The Canadian artist opens up like never before on his 2021 full-length debut album, Dangerous Levels of Introspection, where he shares his innermost thoughts into eloquent and engaging pop, underscored by unfiltered songwriting and cinematic production.
Of the album, Saxe says: “My favorite music has always been the songs that make me feel closer to myself, and I want to make that kind of music,” he observes. “In order to do that, I have to be as close to myself as possible when I write these songs. So, it feels like you get to hear what I’m thinking. There’s no pretense or bullshit. I was as uncompromising as I could possibly be with this album to make sure I really meant everything I was saying about myself and my world.”
Dangerous Levels of Introspection collates many of the highlights that have sound-tracked his career to date. As well as ‘If The World Was Ending’ (produced by the six-time Grammy Award winner FINNEAS), it features established fan favorites, including lead single ‘Like That’, ‘More Of You’, Maren Morris collab ‘Line By Line’ and ‘A Little Bit Yours’. But it also unveils a wealth of new material which further delves into the heartfelt, reflective song-writing that he has built his name on. The intimate “4:30 in Toronto” opens the album with a vulnerable crescendo of emotion as he ponders “two things that used to feel like home just not anymore, a person and a place.” On the other end of the spectrum, he collaborated with the legendary Mike Elizondo and prolific songwriter Audra Mae to bring the finale “Sing Myself To Sleep” to life. He pens a heartfelt tribute to his late mother over acoustic instrumentation.
In addition to Julia Michaels, Maren Morris and FINNEAS, the album adds another high-profile collaborator in the shape of John Mayer, who contributes guitar to the song ‘Here’s Hopin’’. Saxe and Mayer will perform the song together next week on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
