Alex Thomen Bridges Cultures and Commentary in His Satirical New Single “Where Did They Go Wrong?

In an age when music often mirrors the chaos of the internet, Alex Thomen’s “Where Did They Go Wrong?” arrives as both a mirror and a magnifying glass.

The Nashville based composer, producer and educator draws from a rich musical background that spans continents and genres, from orchestral and cinematic works to solo piano and now satirical rock.

Here, he unpacks a deeply modern question: how do intelligent, well-meaning people end up down the strangest cultural rabbit holes?

Thomen’s song, which doubles as a social parable, takes a sharply observational approach to the modern grifting landscape. Across three distinct vignettes, he highlights stories of familiar archetypes. We have Danny, the insecure friend turned self-proclaimed “alpha male”; Carly, the ambitious young woman seduced by the promises of multi level marketing; and Michael, a med student who drifts into the world of pseudoscience and alternative medicine.

None of these characters are real, but their paths are instantly recognizable in the digital age - reflections of collective anxieties and misplaced aspirations that transcend geography.

What makes “Where Did They Go Wrong?” stand out is how it balances satire with empathy. Thomen isn’t mocking. Instead he is observing, using humor as a scalpel rather than a hammer. He fuses musically the lyrical clarity of American singer songwriter traditions with rhythmic sophistication and harmonic depth that reveal his classical training.

The song’s architecture mirrors a live performance - it's a slow, emotive buildup followed by sharp, rhythmic turns as each “punchline” lands.

Though rooted in the textures of Western rock and pop, the piece carries a universal sensibility. Its layered instrumentation with drums recorded in New York by Aaron Walters, piano captured in Colorado, guitars tracked in Nashville and bass handled in Thomen’s home studio — creates a borderless musical canvas.

The final mix by Joe Costa (renowned for his work with Ben Folds) completes it in a very cosmopolitan sound.

The accompanying music video is directed by longtime collaborator Chase Bartholomew, and was filmed at Colorado Sound Studios. It offers a live in the room authenticity that reinforces the song’s narrative. Thomen’s expressive performance anchors the visual storytelling with his subtle gestures and knowing looks carrying the same irony that drives the lyrics. The video feels intimate and theatrical, transforming a studio performance into cultural commentary.

At its heart, “Where Did They Go Wrong?” is a song about the modern condition. It's about the ways technology, ideology and insecurity collide to reshape identity.

It’s witty, yes, but also deeply human. In its blend of musical sophistication and cultural awareness, it is very much at home within the global landscape of artists using satire as social reflection — a lineage that stretches from Randy Newman’s American cynicism to the storytelling craft of artists like Gilad Hekselman or Jacob Collier, who fuse technique with meaning.

"Where Did They Go Wrong" asks the hard questions and does it with a smile.

Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/track/3mZXDgQq56dw36P5zMEyPg