Why I’m not planning to review Lexi’s album

The surprise release of Xandri, Lexi Jones’ debut album, has dominated the Bowie space in media over the past few weeks. So, first, yes, there is a Bowie space in media. As part of this blog project I do a weekly Bowie-related news story roundup, and there are usually quite a few stories to populate the feature. But it seems like only so many stories appear in any given week, and Lexi stories have outnumber David Bowie stories since the album came out.

Of course, in some respect, the Lexi Jones stories are David Bowie stories. Much to her apparent annoyance, her name never appears in media accounts without her identification as the daughter of Bowie and Iman. Of course that was going to happen even more than usually when she released, ya know, an album. And so, shortly after the album came out, she also released a poem titled, “David Bowie’s Daughter,” the gist of which is that she’s her own person striking out to do her own thing and doesn’t just want to be seen as Bowie’s daughter.

Putting aside that I will never get tired of being known as Sal Maggiore’s son, I’m actually fine with Lexi’s stance. It makes sense, and she has as much right as anyone to put out an album (which, by the way, we can all listen to without paying her because she posted it on YouTube). The idea of making music must have been in the air when she was growing up, and I’ll say this— I liked the album and will probably listen to it again.

So, why won’t I review it here? Well, to begin with, I’m gonna honor her sentiment about not being compared to her father. This is a Bowie blog. At such times as I discuss musicians other than Bowie, I compare them to Bowie, explain the Bowie connection, describe what reminds me of Bowie… something. That’s not what Lexi wants, and the thing I know a little about is David Bowie, not necessarily music per se, so aside from saying “I liked it,” I don’t know what else to write.

Second, the album has almost nothing whatsoever to do with David Bowie. One of the songs sounds like Norah Jones meets Fiona Apple, and other songs sound similar to works of others, but none sounds like a Bowie song. I don’t know who played on the album, but I haven’t read anything about Bowie alumni taking part. There are no Bowie covers, she doesn’t try to imitate her father’s voice or lyrical themes. Other than the lineage of the artist, Xandri has nothing to do with David Bowie.

I thought about trying to snag an interview with Lexi, and even to just promise to ask her about the album. But what would I ask? I remember hearing an aborted interview between Terry Gross and Lou Reed when Reed got up and walked out because Gross was asking about his past music. So, with the no-Bowie caveat, I think the right person to do the interview would be a musicologist or even a fellow musician, not a guy who writes a blog about David Bowie (though Lexi, if you are reading this and want to come on my YouTube show, I promise to give it my best shot).

So, I realize that in promising not to write a review about Xandri, I’ve written something about Xandri here. And I want to be clear— I’m not trying to be snide or for this to be read as insincere. Lexi Jones wants to put out an album, which she’s giving away for free, and she’s asking, in return, not to be compared to her father. OK. I agree. Should Bowie fans listen to the album? Yes. I mean, why not? Maybe you’ll like it and maybe you won’t, right? Just don’t go looking for Bowie’s DNA. The artist kept that to herself.