"Reckoner" Reckons With Lex Jimenez' Past
“My music is made with a mic, a metronome and a dream,” confesses Lex Jimenez, an up-and-coming Emerson musician. A self-proclaimed indie-rock-adjacent artist, Jimenez is developing their sound every day. Their newest release, an album entitled reckoner, is their latest experiment, both musically and personally.
“My music is made with a mic, a metronome and a dream.”
Performing has always been a part of Jimenez’s life. They attended a performing arts high school, but it was during the COVID-19 pandemic that they truly began working with song production. A lot of their early sound was very inspired by breakout indie artists of the time, like Billie Eilish and FINNEAS. Their approach to homegrown production has always been very influenced by FINNEAS. As Jimenez has aged, they’ve begun to grow into a more unique sound, intertwining it with a touch of personal experience.
Jimenez said this was the longest they’ve sat with an album. Typically, they are most excited about the period of time right after music is released, thrilled by the feeling of having something freshly out. “I wanted to give myself the time to make something I want to listen to, and not just have it,” they say.
“tether,” the fourth song on the album, took longer than any other song Jimenez has ever produced, as they originally wrote it in June of 2023. The idea came from a TikTok tarot card filter, which gave Jimenez a random reading that inspired them to dig further. The song marinated over months, with the final export being in September of 2023. The lyrics of “tether” are painfully relatable to any college student, particularly in the Emerson bubble. The honest lyricism is artfully performed by Jimenez’s delicate voice, comparing their body to a museum in an unexpected way: “window blacked out, block the sun.”
reckoner is described best on Jimenez’s Instagram post for the album release, a “glorified audial scrapbook/journal entry/piece of myself.” Their music is made in an attempt to communicate a feeling, yearning for the past. This album takes pieces of pop culture and Boston to translate the singer’s feelings into the experience of their life. Listening to the album feels like getting a window into their semester at Emerson.
“your perfect girl” is another good example of this. The song begins with a chorus of Jimenez and their friends, jokingly brainstorming for a song entirely composed of the word “bruh.” The sound bite seems rather faded, like an old memory long forgotten. This song itself moves toward a description of Jimenez’s own experiences, through the lens of the film The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The singer makes allusions to the movie about lovers removing their memories of each other, singing,
“but I can’t remember
your name or your number
the Charles in December
the chill to my temper.”
Since coming to Emerson, Jimenez has had a plethora of new opportunities as a musician. They currently compose for multiple films, specifically through Emerson Independent Video. “I never dreamed that I would be able to score other people’s work … the musical community that I’ve found here has helped me to develop as a person and extend my artistry,” they say. The collaboration they’ve been able to experience is invaluable and has helped develop their technical skills. This experience has only given them more room to experiment with the mishmash of sounds they’re aiming for within their music.
“There’s a certain magic to interpreting your vulnerabilities [through music],” Jimenez says. reckoner’s weaving of memories and references definitely infuses every note with a little bit of magic.