Alex The Astronaut has the follow up to 2020’s The Theory Of Absolutely Nothing ready!
The songwriter and performer’s second studio album is titled How To Grow A Sunflower Underwater, and will be released on July 22. Already, fans have heard a couple of cuts from the record: singles ‘Growing Up’ and ‘Airport’.
And this week, Alex has shared the next single from it in ‘Octopus’. With it comes an animated music video, adding a visual element that reflects the song’s narrative – a reflection of Alex’s recent Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis.
Watch the video for ‘Octopus’ below:
“A group of octopus can be called octopuses, octopi, or octopods. I like octopods the best.” Alex The Astronaut has explained of the video.
“Octopods can change colour to blend in with their surroundings, regrow limbs, and decorate their houses with shells. They are amazing geniuses that live amongst us. Growing up we learn that only people that show a certain set of skills can be called clever, or valuable to society.”
“When I was diagnosed with ASD last year I was worried people would look at me funny and think that I don’t fit when they found out, which they do sometimes but I learnt that we all have a different set of superpowers, like our friends the octopods. All of us need a little help from our friends sometimes and all of us have a superpower that could help the world grow. If we stopped worrying about how much everyone does or doesn’t fit I think we’d all be braver, more curious and much kinder.”
How To Grow A Sunflower Underwater was produced by Alex, as well as Ball Park Music‘s Sam Cromack, Dean Hanson and Daniel Hanson. It was mixed by noted engineer Miro Mackie (St. Vincent), and hopes to show yet more facets of Alex not simply as a songwriter, but as a human too.
“I’d written a couple songs that were far more vulnerable than anything I’d done before,” Alex says.
“I started to see that I needed to keep being that vulnerable if I wanted to make something that contributed to the world. I like to write songs that have a purpose to them—so even if it felt uncomfortable sometimes I had to tell myself, ‘Let’s just keep swimming.’”
