Alex has achieved great acclaim and travelled worldwide with his group Trembling Bells and as a drummer for hire to some of the finest musical artists of our times. While his influences are wide-ranging and myriad, his early musical touchstones have remained intact; something of the spirit of them all is evident on this, his first solo album, Vermillion. The vision is highly personal, undiluted Neilson, although he's called upon the huge musical talents of musicians Lavinia Blackwall, Mike Hastings and Rory Haye (and engineer Sam Smith at Green Door Studios) to bring it all to four-dimensional life. Vermillion is marked throughout by the distinctive Neilson wit, with which those who know the man will surely be familiar; he proves himself a daring lyricist throughout, walking a tightrope between the kaleidoscopic surrealism of Apollinaire and, closer to home, the visionary luminosity of Peter Redgrove. Musically, Vermillion displays a clear love of melody, skronky blats and classic song structure, along with a fearless willingness to toy with those forms and range freely across styles
