Following the release of his latest single Desire in July, singer/songwriter Alex Francis is currently on a tour of Germany and the UK.
This Sunday 15th September, he’ll be playing at the fantastic Musik und Frieden in Kreuzberg, Berlin – and it’s a show that you definitely don’t want to miss! Alex Francis was raised in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, but later moved to Brighton and then London in order to pursue his musical passions.
Growing up, he was greatly influenced by his parents’ music choices: his mum listened to old soul records, while his dad loved “all the great rootsy rock stuff”. His own early music obsessions included Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, and Meatloaf. Whatever the combination in that household was, it obviously worked! Many will have also heard of Francis’s brother, James Bay, best known for his song Hold Back the River.
Now in his late twenties, Francis is all grown and making beautiful music of his own. His first single, The Last Time, was released in early 2017. After its launch, the singer went on a tour of the UK and Europe supporting former Spice Girl Melanie C. In 2018, Francis’s single, A Stronger Love, brought him to the attention of music legend Kelly Jones, singer and lead guitarist of Stereophonics. He invited Francis to join the band’s tour, and he travelled around Europe with them. The same year, Francis also toured with Sting, and performed at numerous festivals during the summer, including Isle of Wight (UK), MadCool (Spain), and Blue Balls (Switzerland).
This summer, Francis has released Desire. Speaking about the single in an interview, the musician said: “Desire came together quite naturally on the basis that the feel of the song felt so good so early on that I just went purely on that before approaching the lyric or the any of the production. I’ve always been hooked by back beat, groove and strong delivery so those three factors shaped the form the I wanted the song to take. Everybody knows desire in their life on one level or another and this track is my take on a version of that feeling.”
Francis has said before that he wants to create “music which sends shivers down your spine”. With his soulful, gravelly voice and merging of musical genres, he certainly achieves his goal. Sunday night at Musik und Frieden will be one to remember.
