Today, we’re honoured to premiere Alexander Teller’s new single ‘A Cigarette That Never Goes Out’, which comes ahead of his satirically named debut EP, Alexander Teller Is A Snake Oil Seller, due out early 2020. His music is a captivating piece of cinematic rock, which sounds like a tincture composed of Sam Fender, Tamino, Radiohead and also part James Bond theme track. No doubt, there’s a grandiose cinematism to the instrumentation, built on softly stirring violin, chunky bassline groove, emotively strummed acoustic guitar and atmospheric piano plays. Once we’re into that second minute, the track veers into funk territory with an impressive guitar riff by Teller punching a hole through the increasingly intricate composition. Providing his own perspective on what this song means, the artist says: “A Cigarette That Never Goes Out is a love song (or a loss song?). I have a lot of fun writing words that don’t seem like they should fit in a song. I don’t want people to think that the humour in the lyrics means i’m being facetious or frivolous. It’s definitely sincere. There’s somewhere between being earnest and being playful that I think carries the most weight." As for the video itself, it was directed by Riccardo Fusetti and much like Teller’s music, it draws inspiration from cinema. The result is the eerie world where 2002’s quirky British classic About A Boy and 2015 nouveau-horror The Green Room meets. The set is drenched in red and black, signalling oncoming danger and impending doom… something that’s only revealed in dramatic fashion right at the end of the video. - Hannah Thacker