On her recently released dark-pop anthem, Alexa Dark embodies the ultimate film noir femme fatale. “Alibi,” Dark’s first release since her 2023 debut EP Dark, Vol. 1, is a seductive track that dances on the edge of danger, enticing listeners to jump in the fire. A glittering and fuzzy score to a reckless love story, “Alibi” is a song about romanticizing all parts of your life, whether glamorous or toxic.
Regarding the new single, Dark says it, “came together in a day in LA. It’s inspired by the seductive pull of the forbidden and my habit of over-romanticizing situations and people — even bad ideas and toxic lovers. It’s an ode to that, a fantasy come to life.”
As she dips her toes into the fantasy, listeners are taken on a cinematic journey. Carrying with her the same romantic fuzz as artists like Nancy Sinatra and Françoise Hardy, Dark is a modern-day femme fatale and the ultimate songwriter.
Raised between Barcelona, New York City and London, Dark fuses her diverse background and eclectic range of musical influences to create her own signature, undefinable sound. Through her artistry, dark has created a mysterious and enigmatic world where fantasy comes to life and even the most dangerous of emotions are encouraged.
Amidst her haunting musicality is a hint of nostalgia, offering comfort and a sense of home for those who dare to listen. Fusing together notes of 1960s film scores to French New Wave, Dark has created her own world within her work, and “Alibi” is only the beginning of Dark’s new musical era.
I’m super excited to talk with you about the new single and everything else coming up. You said “Alibi” is about romanticizing all parts of your life, including the parts that are toxic or not so healthy. Do you think that’s necessarily a bad thing?
That’s a good question. I don’t always think it’s a bad thing. I think it yields to a lot of great music and we see that in a lot of different artists and it definitely is an inspirational thing for me. I’m very drawn to these kind of quote, unquote negative feelings like melancholy and toxic situations and finding the bittersweet beauty in it. I think that’s part of life. It’s part of the experience. I don’t know if it’s necessarily good or bad.
I think that’s a great answer. Like you say, it’s just a part of life. “Alibi” also sounds like it’s straight from a Neo-noir film. What inspired you to pull from this theme for this song as well as your other music?
Since I was young I think I’ve always been drawn to the film noir classic films and Old Hollywood, and I really love the femme fatale character. That archetype is in a lot of different movies throughout that era and I think it’s something I’ve always been drawn to. So it bled into my creative process and in the world I was building around the music and the visuals and became an inspiration for that.
Do you have any specific famous femme fatales that you love? I read that you love Lauren Bacall, but who are your favorites?
Yeah, I love Lauren Bacall. Lauren Bacall is one of my favorites. I like “Gilda” with Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, I love those kind of characters. I feel like there’s a strength in them and this super femininity, but also not a femininity like in other movies where we’re given a weaker sense of person. There’s a strength and they’re a little villainous, but you always get her, you know.
I love that your music incorporates the femme fatale personality so well. Going back to the new single, it’s your first release since your EP from last year, but how has your sound changed since 2023? What can people expect to see from you in the future?
I think “Alibi” definitely builds upon the sound in the world that I’ve been creating in the music before and in the EP, but it’s definitely a new chapter and very much an introduction into the next era and the music I’ve been working on that I’m sitting on now. So definitely an introduction to that.
You say it’s an introduction to a new era. How is “Alibi” different compared to your previous work?
I think even just the way the song came around is different. It came very naturally and very quickly just in one afternoon in LA. I think that it’s a bit of a more developed sound than my previous work, but also just a different emotional space. I think it still has that sadness, but a little more mature, or maybe a little more of a, say, sexier feeling towards what “Alibi” is going for versus the ones before.
You say it came together pretty fast compared to your previous work. Did that make you nervous when you put it together so fast?
I’m such an overthinker and such a perfectionist when it comes to the work that sometimes I need to remind myself to trust my instincts as an artist. I think that this song was definitely a reminder of that, where it came together and we’re like, ‘We’ll pick it back up,’ but then it just really had this great sound just in that day. And I think it just was trusting it to say, ‘Okay, you know what this is, what it was meant to sound like, and what it’s meant to be’ and kind of letting go of it. But as an artist, I feel like you’re never really finished.
Going off of that, with your songwriting process in general — especially because you pull from such a specific theme or aesthetic — what usually comes first? Is it a lyric that you have in mind or a certain riff that you come up with?
I really don’t have a set process. I think it’s different for every song or every idea. I like to keep track of different melody ideas or lyric ideas. I feel like I’m a very lyrically driven artist and so I love to keep track of little moments or just even just experiences I have that I can come to later. And then the sound and the music and everything kind of comes together harmoniously. But sometimes it comes first with a melodic idea and sometimes first with a little lyric.
Going off of musical influences, I love that you have a diverse range of influences, pulling from everything from Nancy Sinatra to riot grrrl bands. With that diverse range of influences you have and the music that you make, how would you describe your music or your sound?
I would say it’s quite dark, moody, cinematic. It doesn’t necessarily conform to one genre, but it’s more of an exploration of different sounds. A little bit of a soundtrack to how I’m feeling or what I’m going through at the moment.
I love that description. Just capturing a moment in your life but with a film score or soundtrack.
Yeah. I always feel like I’m scoring the emotion, you know, whether it be a breakup or a sad moment in a relationship or whatever it is. Those feelings of love and longing.
Going off of influences, I mentioned Nancy Sinatra. You also love Françoise Hardy, both are definitive icons from a certain decade or era. What draws you to that generation specifically, whether it’s music or film or otherwise?
I’m very drawn to the 1960s. I think the aesthetic was really something that always spoke to me, whether it’s in film or in music, especially that French 1960s vibe, like the films of Jean-Luc Godard or the music of Françoise Hardy and Serge Gainsbourg. There’s a sound and an exploration in the melodies and the voice and everything that just really resonated with me when I was growing up in an era that maybe was a different sound or a different thing. I didn’t know where I fit into. I feel like that was really home for me.
I don’t know if you feel that same way now or if it has changed over the years, but what do you think this modern era might be missing that the 1960s had?
I feel like we are in a really cool moment in music where a lot of different kinds of artists are emerging. It doesn’t feel like the same cookie-cutter thing and there’s definitely different vibes and sounds and everything. I think maybe there’s an authenticity or a bit of a vulnerable sound in the 1960s music that I really am always drawn to and hope to recreate in this generation.
You’ve kind of lived all over the globe and you have such a diverse cultural background. Since you are somebody who’s been everywhere, what do you consider home? How do you identify yourself?
It’s always an interesting question because I feel like I don’t really have a home yet. It opens this world of possibilities of everywhere kind of being a bit of home. And the idea of home is something that I always come back to creatively. I feel like it’s a bit of a mystery since I didn’t really grow up with a specific place, yet I’ve had that feeling with so many different things, whether it be different places or different things I’ve discovered or art I’ve discovered, and finding that sense of home in places and people and all that. So it definitely is something I come to a lot because I don’t really know the answer, but I think that a lot of my work is trying to find it.
What do you ultimately hope to provide for other people who listen to your music?
I think I always found this sense of refuge or home in music and in the artists that I listened to and that inspired me. So I guess I hope to just create something that’s timeless and that can affect people and that people can also find refuge in and create this world that people can immerse themselves into and find a bit of themselves in. So I think that’s ultimately what I always love about the music that impacts me, is that I’m able to find myself in it and be like, ‘Oh, that’s how I feel.’ So I hope to create that for other people.
Obviously you just released “Alibi,” but without giving too much away what do you have in the works or what should people kind of be on the lookout for?
I’ve got a lot of music that I’ve been working on and building and I think that it’s definitely an extension of the same world, but something kind of different and builds upon the sound and the ideas that and the themes in my previous work, but also in a new way. So I’m really excited. Obviously not to give too much away, but I’m really excited for what that is and the story that that’s telling, because I think that it’s definitely something that I’ve been feeling.
You say it’s a story, is it going to be a literal concept piece or is it just more of a soundtrack of what you’re going through right now like you mentioned earlier?
I’m not sure yet. I think it’s still kind of building for me. I feel like sometimes I write music and then I see the full puzzle that every piece has been contributing to at the end. So I think that that’s something that I hope people can interpret and I can also interpret of my own work, if that makes sense. But I think that everything’s telling a bit of a story and that these are pieces of the same story. I think it’s going to be a little more conceptual.
Stream “Alibi,” the new single from Alexa Dark, on Spotify and Apple Music.
Keep up with Alexa Dark: Instagram // TikTok // Spotify // YouTube // Website
