This weekend, emerging pop-R&B crooner Alex Embler released a new, stripped-down version of his song “9 Hours”. The February 12 release was preceded by Embler’s cover of the late Juice WRLD’s “Life’s A Mess”, which came out the previous week.

Those releases were succeeded by the Valentine’s Day premiere of the “9 Hours (Reimagined)” music video.

“9 Hours” is a song about reuniting with your love after enduring a difficult period of separation. It was inspired by Embler’s recent experience leaving his northern Virginia residence for Nashville in an attempt to get his music career off the ground.

Though he describes spending a year apart from his wife as ‘the hardest thing he’s ever had to do’, the 600-mile journey was without a doubt fruitful. Not only did he come away with the inspiration for this moving song — he also came home with a record deal! Not one to rest on his laurels, the Legend Recordings signee has since continued to work hard on his music, splitting his time between Virginia and Tennessee.

“Life’s A Mess” serves as further proof of Embler’s versatility as an artist. The former pro baseball player chose to cover the posthumously-released Juice WRLD and Halsey single because of how much it spoke to him lyrically. Content-wise, it complements “9 Hours” quite nicely.

Whereas the latter addresses a well-established long-distance relationship, this song is more focused on recounting past relationships that didn’t pan out and expressing gratitude for having since found “the one.” The recording process for “9 Hours (Stripped)” and “Life’s A Mess” differed from that for Embler’s other releases. 

PopWrapped (PW): For those that may be unaware of your many different talents, you grew up in sports and found a love for music – joining a metal band, starting to draw attention to you as an artist. You suffered from an injury in sports – did that help you to find your passion for music?

Alex Embler (AE): I don’t think that music necessarily helped me find my passion, however with the closing of that chapter, it allowed me to fully concentrate on what I knew was my destiny. I could sleep at night knowing that I gave my first love the full effort it deserved while I could physically do it. I have no regrets, and I am grateful that I can now live this dream fully.

PW: Though you sang in a metal group, you have a lot of pop and R&B influences in the overall sound in your artistry and discography so far. Who would you say influences your sound the most & what do you hope that people can take from your solo work coming from metal into the pop music world?

AE: My influences range from Jonny Craig, to Usher, to Justin Bieber, to Neyo, to Death Metal, Post Hardcore, R&B, Classical Music, Country Music, and basically anything that can really invoke emotion within me. I really feel music, and if it has the ability to make me feel, then it pulls me in. THAT is what I want out of my music.

PW: You just recently released a stripped version of “9 Hours”. Tell us a little bit about the track, and what this track means to as you start to develop a more stable solo discography.

AE: The track is about my journey from home, to Nashville to pursue my dream
while leaving my family behind for months at a time, and then my decision to return home. It is an emotional one for me because of what it means, but also because it really represents musically the style in which I want to be known for. Emotional R&B that shows a glimpse of my rock background and style. I think this track is a very accurate representation of my overall vision as an artist.

PW: As you continue to put out new releases, how do you plan to set yourself apart from other artists in your genre – and what can we expect from the music that is to come?

AE: I plan to push myself to my farthest limits in every single facet of each and every release I have. Pushing myself to my own limits in terms of my vocal range, and I plan to show people my influences in each and every song I release. This combined with learning of my story, and what it is that makes me tick, and the long road that has lead to where I am now, will capture people, and show them that anything is possible.

If you want to follow along Alex’s musical journey, you can follow him on Instagram, and Facebook. Be sure to check out Alex’s music on all platforms.