Alexander Burnett (musician)
Alexander Burnett is a London-based singer, songwriter and music producer known for collaborations with major artists including DJ Snake, Hayden James, Flight Facilities, Elderbrook, Alison Wonderland, Japanese Wallpaper, Mansionair, Thelma Plum, and Hudson Taylor, and for fronting the band Sparkadia.
In 2011, he was labelled "what might be Australia's best rising songwriter" by the Sydney Morning Herald.
As of 2014, he is one half of the deep house duo Antony & Cleopatra, based in London.
Sparkadia
Attracted by guitar music and indie pop, Burnett formed his first band, The Spark, in 2004 with drummer David Hall. After touring Australia for a year in 2006 the group signed to Ark Recordings in the UK and Ivy League records in Australia, and changed their name to Sparkadia.Their debut album Postcards was recorded and produced by Ben Hillier at Miloco Studios in London in 2007 and released in 2008. Nominated for Album of the Year in that year's J Awards, it achieved Gold sales in Australia. The hit single 'Jealousy' hit #79 in Triple J's Hottest 100. Sparkadia went on to tour internationally, playing at many of the European summer festivals including Glastonbury and T in the Park and opening for acts including Vampire Weekend, Death Cab for Cutie, Tegan and Sara, and Jimmy Eat World. After an Australian tour in 2009 playing Big Day Out, several of Alexander's Sparkadia bandmates went on to other projects.
Alexander spent time in Berlin, Stockholm, New York City, and Los Angeles, before moving to London in 2010. There he made the second Sparkadia album, The Great Impression, as a solo project, playing all the instruments, with Mark "Tieks" Tieku co-producing. Inspirations for the record ranged from Berlin-era David Bowie and Roy Orbison to Javanese Gamelan. The album debuted at #8 on the ARIA charts and placed in the top 50 for the following year, also achieving Gold sales, with three singles placing in the Hottest 100. The single 'China' was a finalist in the 2011 Vanda and Young Songwriting Competition. His tour dates in 2011 with the new members of Sparkadia included Splendour in the Grass, which also featured Coldplay and Kanye West.
Collaborations
In 2011, Burnett went co-wrote "2 Hearts" on Digitalism's 2011 album I Love You, Dude. The same year he co-wrote and produced the lead single 'Act Yr Age' on Bluejuice's album Company. The following year he worked again with Bluejuice on their single 'SOS' and co-wrote Hudson Taylor's breakthrough single 'Battles'.In 2014 he co-wrote and produced George Maple's breakthrough hit 'Talk Talk'. This was reworked by DJ Snake and released in 2016 as 'Talk', which hit #13 on Billboard's hot dance/electronic chart in the US. He also co-wrote Bluejuice's final single 'I'll Go Crazy' and was a writer on Bliss n Eso's gold single 'Act Your Age,' which won APRA's 2014 Urban Work of the Year award.
In 2015 he co-wrote Hayden James' 'Something About You' which hit No. 44 on Triple J's Hottest 100. He also wrote three tracks for Alison Wonderland as well as singles by Flight Facilities and Motez. In November of that year he was among the speakers at the Electronic Music Conference, along with Flume and Porter Robinson. In 2016 he wrote with Japanese Wallpaper on 'Cocoon', Hayden James' 'Just a Lover', The Kaiser Chiefs' return single 'Hole in My Soul', and other songs with Joy, Paces, and Nicole Millar. 2017 saw collaborations with Rationale, Grades, Tieks with Chaka Khan, LDRU, BETSY, and Dan Sultan on his album Killer.
At the start of 2018 he co-wrote and produced "Clumsy Love" from Gamilaraay singer-songwriter Thelma Plum's first release since 2014 The same year, his co-write with Dan Sultan, 'Hold It Together', received an APRA Song of the Year nomination. He accumulated further writing and producing credits in 2018, with Elderbrook, Jack River, Mansionair, Graace, Japanese Wallpaper, Yates, and Muto.
Alexander Burnett recent Discography
Triple J Hottest 100 Appearances
Antony & Cleopatra
Full article & discography at Antony & Cleopatra.2014: Formation
Producer and collaborator Mark-Anthony Tieku introduced Burnett and Anita Blay during a pop songwriting session in 2014.Burnett and Blay subsequently formed a deep house duo called Antony & Cleopatra. They soon featured on three singles in 2014: Lancelot's "Givin' It Up", Beni's "Protect", and Sammy Bananas' "Money Time".
Alexander has said that being brought on to write for Digitalism around 2011 was part of his motivation both as a songwriter and as an artist to transition away from Sparkadia and towards electronic music, also citing "falling a bit out of love with the guitar".
Releases
Their debut single as lead artists, "Sirens", was released in 2015, and was followed with multiple singles and collaborations from 2015-2019.November 23, 2018 saw the release of Antony & Cleopatra's 6-song debut EP, Hurt Like Hell, to strong reviews:
- ""Hurt Than Hell" packs a punch with its twisting synth stabs and looping vocals, while songs like "Hard Feelings" pulse with a thick house bounce and 8-bit twists which together, straddle on that fine line between both forward-thinking and nostalgic - something that is super, super hard to pull off, but something that Antony & Cleopatra do so with ease."
- "Hurt Like Hell is like escaping into a dark basement club with pumping beats echoing off the red-lit walls for twenty minutes. Antony & Cleopatra create danceable tunes with new twists and turns making their electronic project standout, and unlike other artists this Duo does not get lost in wide seas and endless possibilities of electronically produced music. Recognising that it is not about who can layer the most beats, they pick the most interesting tunes out of the broad spectrum and arrange them carefully to an intelligent EP, and a ready-made playlist for any good party." 4/5 stars
- "The “Hurt Like Hell” EP is a strong offering from the London duo, keeping the tradition of UK house music alive while adding a fresh modern take on production."
- "From its warped melodies, rubber mallet beats, and swirling, psychedelic, electronic notes, 'Hurt Like Hell' is instantly recognisable as an addictive hit."
| Title | Year | Album |
| "Sirens" | 2015 | |
| "Take Me" | 2015 | |
| "Love Is A Lonely Dancer" | 2016 | |
| "Dust | 2017 | |
| "Twitch" | 2017 | |
| "The Islands" | 2018 | |
| "Hard Feelings" "Hurt Like Hell" | 2018 | "Hurt Like Hell" |
| "Why Don't You Just Call Me" | 2019 |
Live
The duo's first Australian tour was part of the 2017 Alison Wonderland's 'Scarehouse Project' alongside other acts such as Lunice, Lido, ASAP Ferg and Saatchi.The next year they went on to play Australia's largest winter music festival Splendour In The Grass in July 2018.
Additional Work
The duo have also provided vocals on:| Song | Artist | Year | Record | Label |
| "Slippin'" | Jaded x Black Caviar x Antony & Cleopatra | 2019 | Single | Hexagon, The Label |
| "The Future" | Motez x Antony & Cleopatra | 2017 | Single | Sweat it Out |
| "Careful Baby" | Nicky Night Time feat. Antony & Cleopatra | 2016 | Single | Sweat It Out |
| "Never Get to You" | Moonboots feat. Antony & Cleopatra | 2016 | Single | Anjunabeats |
| "Money Time" | Sammy Bananas feat. Antony & Cleopatra | 2015 | Single | Fools Gold |
| "The Tide" | Dreamtrak | 2015 | Single | Mermaid Avenue / Mom + Pop |
| "Givin' it Up" | Lanceleot feat. Antony & Cleopatra | 2014 | Single | Anjunadeep |
| "Protect" | Beni feat. Antony & Cleopatra | 2014 | Single | WIN/Modular |
| "Make Ends Meet" | Lancelot feat. Antony & Cleopatra | 2014 | Single | Anjunadeep |