Pop music rarely gets the respect it deserves. More often than not when someone says ‘pop music,’ the first image that comes to mind is bubblegum teenagers adorned in drawstring backpacks, sunglasses, shorts and duck faces at a summer music festival. Either that or throngs of young twenty somethings packing a nightclub or tooling around town.
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Pop garners attention and attracts the masses, but it’s often given little reverence and that’s just wrong. Not only does the world NEED a little bubblegum every now and then, pop music can be just as introspective and carry a message just as deep as any brooding singer/songwriter on the planet.
Alex Porat’s new song “Happy For You” is a perfect example of that. The dialogue of the broken heart behind the brave face, this is a song we’ve all lived at least a few times. Not unlike depression hiding behind a masquerading smile, the phrase “I’m happy for you” can often be a similar substitute. We’ve all uttered it to an ex, a friend or a competitor when in reality we feel just the opposite.
“I wanted to express how I really felt about a situation where my internal monologue was different from what was being said out loud,” says the Toronto-based artist. “One of my favorite parts is where you can hear Mike Adubato, Jesse Fink, DCF and I shouting on the chorus, “I say I’m happy for you, I’m not that happy for you.
“Being honest with yourself is part of the healing process.”
Truth!
Recorded in Abdubato’s LA studio amidst a plethora of purple glowing lights to set the stage, Porat had to overcome both mental and physical hurdles to bring this song into the world.
“I remember using a vocal steamer several times a day leading up to that session because I had completely lost my voice and I was so stressed that I wouldn’t be able to sing.”
Named one of Amazon Music’s 2020 Artists to Watch, Porat is a product of the YouTube generation. Having been discovered after uploading cover versions of her favorite songs, her strategy has worked brilliantly as it not only launched her career, to date her channel has garnered 750,000+ subscribers and 93+ million video views.
Those video stats play perfectly for Porat as the video for “Happy For You” is just as powerful a statement as the song itself, shining a spotlight on how powerful social media plays in the mourning of a relationship. Victims of our own timelines and uncontrollable tendencies to cyber-creep our exes, it’s a hard look at how your own rear-view mirror can hold you in purgatory and slow you from moving on.
Like most songwriters, Porat is at her songwriting best when she feels the need to vent. Both a fan and a student of pop music, Porat doesn’t hesitate to tip her hat to Whitney Houston as one of her favorites. When asked what her favorite song lyric by any songwriter is, her first response is crystal clear. “Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all” by Whitney Houston.
Songwriting heroes though, that’s a different story. While that list is never limited to just one and the range can be quite grand, most often the name at the top of any artists list is someone of superstar stature. Maybe not in sales but quite often in musical circles. For Porat however, her Mount Rushmore starts a little closer to home. When asked what songwriter she admires most and why, her answer isn’t one anyone might have guessed.
“I really admire my friend David Charles Fischer aka DCF. He’s been a real one, working through my project together. You really have to trust the people you write with because you’re giving them top secret information about your life and I just really trust him! He’s really helped me develop as a songwriter and showed me that you can always push the boundaries of a song a little further than you initially thought. Appreciate him.”
Don’t be misled, David Charles Fischer / DCF is no slouch. The Canadian neo-pop/electronic artist who sometimes sings, sometimes raps is an in-demand artist and very connected in the Toronto scene. It’s just not the name you might expect to follow Whitney Houston in a line of ‘who’s your favorite’ questioning.
Then again, that’s the beauty of Alex Porat. Her foundation is built on a wide variety of building blocks which in the end, produces this exemplary and unique artist who only wants out of life what every young twenty-something wants.
“I want to sing for the rest of my life, actually enjoy running, see family often and voice a Disney character.”
That’s it?
“A healthy sleep schedule.”
