Abraham Alexander Releases Lead Single from Upcoming EP

Abraham Alexander just announced his debut release, the four-track self-titled EP due June 28 via Mahogany. His music is filled with a joyful passion and irrepressible spirit, radiating undeniable hope while his lyrics speak to his pain and trauma and life-changing loss. Today, the Texas-based musician also shares the EP's lead single "Lovers Game," a moody and piano-driven reflection on modern romance. "It's about how, in this day and age, we're so afraid of being truly in the moment and appreciating someone for who they are right now," says Alexander. "We end up playing all these games to see if someone's worth our love, instead of just letting ourselves fall head first." Hear "Lovers Game" below!

Alexander was born in Greece to parents of Nigerian descent and moved to Fort Worth, Texas at age 11, with his family determined to escape the racial tensions they faced in Athens. After first playing around on his father's guitar at age 8, he fully committed to teaching himself the instrument at age 22-a move largely inspired by a Mahogany Session featuring Gary Clark Jr. "I'd torn my ACL playing college soccer, and for a long time I was laid up at home, just so depressed," says Alexander. "Watching Gary do his thing really affected me-you don't see many people who look like me holding a guitar, and it made me want to try as well." He soon started writing songs of his own, playing open mics in Fort Worth and began drawing bigger and bigger crowds, and sang backing vocals on fellow Fort Worth musician Leon Bridges' critically acclaimed debut album Coming Home. Then, in 2017, he released "America"--a protest song written in response to the spate of police violence against black men--which soon drew the attention of Mahogany Records, and eventually led to his signing to the label.

In the making of his forthcoming debut EP, Alexander traveled from Fort Worth to London and worked with producer/songwriters like Cameron Warren (The Dap Kings, Dan Caplen), shaping his songs with elements of soul and hip-hop and rock and blues. His songwriting process is fueled by raw feeling and he hopes that his deliberate vulnerability might inspire others to embrace a certain open-heartedness. "It's really important to me to connect with all different kinds of people-people who'd maybe never usually be in the same room together, but who could end up realizing they're no different from each other," says Alexander. "At the end of the day we're all searching for truth, and I'd love for my songs to help people along with that."

Pre-order / pre-save Abraham Alexander here: https://abraham-alexander.lnk.to/Listen.