Eamon Blog
Today's Shelf Pull: Alex Warren, Wildchild
Thirteen songs, two sides, and the title saved for last.
Across two vinyl sides, its thirteen songs offer a reason to follow the sequence rather than make straight for the title track.
Alex Warren’s Wildchild puts the voice near the front and gives the choruses plenty of room. This is contemporary pop with its feelings plainly visible, not tucked behind a complicated arrangement of excuses. There is something useful about knowing where a record stands.
Released by Atlantic Records in 2026, the album gathers thirteen songs on one vinyl LP. Its scale comes from broad melodies and prominent lead vocals rather than a sprawling track count. Two sides provide a manageable frame for all that emotional exposure.
The central contrast is between intimate verses and large vocal hooks. Listen for that change of proportion: the writing draws close, while the chorus opens the space around it. Directness need not mean smallness, and Wildchild is built around that distinction.
There is no need to dress this up as a puzzle record. The useful listening question is how a plainly expressed feeling holds its shape when the melody grows. That gives the ear something more specific to follow than a general impression of earnestness.
Side A begins with “Emerald Eyes” and “Same Stars”, followed by “Passenger” and “Rescuer”. Before making any grand claims for a narrative, it is worth noticing the order itself. These are the first four steps, not a selection lifted from different corners.
“Cry Wolf” comes fifth, with “Fine Place To Die” closing the side. That physical boundary matters to the listening routine: six songs, then a pause. The LP gives you somewhere to stop without asking you to decide that the whole album is finished.
Across the record, the polished pop presentation sits around emotionally exposed songwriting. The broad choruses are the outward gesture; the intimate verses supply the closer view. Keeping both in mind is more useful than treating polish and candour as opposites that cannot share a room.
A side break is a modest bit of punctuation. It does not prove that the story has changed direction, and it need not carry that burden. Here, it simply divides a thirteen-song programme into six songs and seven, leaving a substantial second stretch.
Side B opens with “Are You Having Fun, Alex?”, then moves to “I Miss You More” and “Only Thing Left”. The opening title is a question addressed by name. That is a concrete detail worth noticing without pretending it tells us everything about the song.
“Fever Dream” follows, ahead of “Won't Go Back Again” and “Last Time”. Read together, those titles invite thoughts about memory and departure, but titles are not summaries. Better to let the songs establish their own weight than assign each one a plot in advance.
The final song is “Wildchild”. Saving the title track for thirteenth place gives the album’s name a particular position: it is the destination on the printed sequence, not the opening announcement. Listen through to it rather than asking it to introduce everything that precedes it.
That is also a good reason not to turn the record into a hunt for one chorus. Strong hooks are part of its design, but the full sequence puts them beside quieter-scaled verses and the next song’s fresh beginning. An album offers those changes of perspective.
For listeners drawn to modern singer-songwriter pop, the useful points of entry are straightforward: a prominent voice, broad melodic choruses and writing that does not disguise its emotional intent. No elaborate equipment discussion is required to say what the music is asking you to attend to.
Wildchild makes its invitation through clarity. The voice is prominent, the melodic shapes are broad, and the presentation is polished. The listening task is to notice the relationship between that outward scale and the more intimate writing.
At Kilmorna in Listowel, that is the angle for today’s shelf pull: an album to approach in sequence, with the turn of the record left intact. Thirteen songs are enough company without needing an extra mythology attached.
Start with “Emerald Eyes”, leave room for the second side, and let “Wildchild” arrive last. The running order has already done that small piece of organising. For once, there is no need to improve it.
On the shelf today:
Alex Warren - Wildchild
LP, 2026
Pop
EUR 35.95
Available from The Kilmorna Collection, Listowel
Buy or reserve: https://www.thekilmornacollection.com/vinyl/alex-warren-wildchild
Buying vinyl records in Ireland: https://www.thekilmornacollection.com/vinyl-records-ireland
