NEW WORLD MAN

RUSH LEGEND ALEX LIFESON REEMERGES WITH A NEW BAND, NEW MUSIC AND A NEW, SCALED-DOWN APPROACH TO SERVING THE SONG.

- Gregory Adams

ALEX LIFESON’S PLACE IN MUSIC HISTORY AS a premiere prog player cannot be understated. Across five decades with Rush, the Toronto-based guitarist delivered thrill rides of dramatic arpeggios, quixotic whammy-play and irregular hooks galore. But seven years on from Rush’s final concert performance — and two since the tragic loss of drummer/lyricist Neil Peart to glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer — Lifeson returns this spring with music from his much-anticipated, and stylistically divergent new project, Envy of None. The fledgling group’s sonic aesthetic is quite a pivot from what longtime Rush fans may be expecting from the Canadian guitar hero — some of the darkly cinematic, synthesized soundscapes of the quartet’s 11-song, self-titled effort arguably hew closer to the moody swerve of Violator-period Depeche Mode or Nine Inch Nails than the soaring prog elasticity of, say, “YYZ” or “La Villa Strangiato.” Though not without its giant guitar moments, Lifeson’s purview within Envy of None’s first album was to play with texture more so than high-flying, trem bar heavy lead work.

“I feel like I’ve fully explored the whole area of soloing,” Lifeson tells Guitar World. “I think I have a particular style and character to my solos, [and] there’s lots of variation in my soloing, but I think at this point in my life it’s more about servicing the song. Not being too distracting, or shining a light on any particular thing. It’s just getting into the groove, tapping your foot and feeling connected with the song itself.”