THINK OF HIM AS AN INDEPENDENT CORRESPONDENT, WITH HIS WORK DISPATCHES FROM HIS TRAVELS
Our Man In The Field, the musical pseudonym of British singer/songwriter Alex Ellis, is the result of a mid-life epiphany. In 2014, Ellis found himself in the hospital under observation for intense abdominal pains. A tumor was discovered similar to a growth that led to the death of his father in his 40s. As Ellis awaited treatment, he reflected on his dad’s life – hard work in a job he didn’t like, with no ability to enjoy the fruits of his labor before he passed – and realized he needed to make some changes to avoid the same fate.
Until then Ellis had been an actor, but it wasn’t catapulting him to a fulfilling life. Upon his discharge and subsequent recovery, he began writing and slowly creating his aesthetic and sonic identity as a musician. “I think of Our Man In The Field as kind of a character and not really even me,” says Ellis. “Something like a Jack Kerouac or an Albert Camus. A writer and a correspondent, a roving reporter like a TV version in the ‘70s; Hunter S Thompson but less guns and LSD. I don’t want the listener to think about the songs as being mine or about me, it’s more about the story and the characters in there. They’re always about real people and hopefully that makes them relatable.”
Produced and mixed by Tucker Martine (Modest Mouse, Rosanne Cash, Case/Lang/Veirs), Gold On the Horizon was released on November 3 2023 (ORDER HERE), is a 12-song collection of life observations and the urge to explore their universal meanings through Ellis’s fly-on-the-wall, tuneful alter-persona. Recorded at Flora Recording and Playback in Portland, Oregon, the album ranges from raw and barren in “Come Back To Me,” which showcases Ellis’s soulful vocal harmonies and a sparse arrangement of acoustic guitar and pedal steel, to the spacious mirror ball slow-dance of “Go Easy.” The album opener “Feel Good.” is a full and striding desert noir of horns, backup vocals, and baritone guitar. What informs Ellis and Gold On the Horizon is a lifetime of inspiration and the creative space to “wait for something magical to happen.”
Our Man In The Field is currently routing a global tour around the release of Gold on the Horizon with performance dates starting in the UK and US through fall 2023 and early spring.
The band have have an official showcase at the AMA UK’s Americanafest stage-time 21:30 at Oslo Hackney on Wednesday the 24th of January and will be opening for Israel Nash at his sold out London show at The Garage on Sunday 28th January. More dates below.
New single The Road also reorded with Tucker Martine, released February 9th. Scroll down for video.
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“Ellis claims to have taken inspiration from the likes of Van Morrison, Neil Young, and Wilco, but his point of view and sonics are distinctly modern-day and he is forging a singular path.” – Glide Magazine
“The level of sensitivity laced into the music and the lyrics of Alex Ellis are nothing short of wondrous. Albums like this come along every decade or so and really do offer stepping stones to sanity. If there is one album released in 2023, this is the one with a circle around it that delivers the truest chance of timelessness. The quiet backgrounds, the haunting vocals, and most of all the songs themselves will not be forgotten. Hope has arrived”- Bill Bentley in Americana Highways
“‘Gold on the Horizon’ is mellow but with a rebellious edge. Ellis comes across as humble, unassuming, but also a curious traveler, a troubadour following the major questions wherever they lead.” – No Depression
