There’s just one credit on Alexander Tucker’s latest record Portal — it’s him, playing every instrument, melding doom metal, sweeping orchestral sounds, and John Fahey-style finger-plucking into what he calls ”psychedelic experimental pop”. With no drums or bass to anchor the ghostly majesty of Tucker’s music, watching him play live — in boots Neil Young would appreciate — is a deliciously voyeuristic window into his delicate process of creation. Building and harmonizing sounds layer upon layer, he commands his shifting, spectral sonics like some shamanic figure, his voice just another instrument thrown into the mix. “I see it almost like these particles that are all circling around a nucleus, all these bits falling in time with each other in their own way,” he suggests.
     After cutting his teeth as vocalist in post-rock five-piece Unhome, the self-taught musician began playing around with field recordings, improvisation, loops, and fx pedals. Experimental rock collective Jackie-O Motherfucker picked up on Tucker’s innovative sound and released his debut record, Old Fog, through the U-Sound Archive label. UK-based indie label All Tomorrow’s Parties stepped in next, and Tucker, who originally studied at London’s Slade School of Art, has been creating the appropriately doomy cover artwork for his releases ever since. But it’s not complete control-freakery: “In my mind, when I play by myself I imagine all the other players,” he admits. “I don’t know why I’ve never got around to getting them together yet, but there’s just something about doing it by yourself…you get to go to completely different places.”