Here are your rankings from EmKayDeeBee:
Read on for her reviews!
What a strong first round! My top 9 could almost have been in any order, and my bottom 9 I sincerely hope get brought up in the rankings by others…. (For the sake of not leaving anyone out, the middle 13 were also strong and hard to place one above the other). They say the best way to learn is to teach, and I am grateful for how this privilege of judging has raised my awareness of things I could absolutely improve in my own songwriting.
Firstly some overall thoughts on my judging style in terms of things that I’ve realised as I listen matter to me:
Intros and endings matter - I want the way you start and end your song to feel purposeful. And I want to hear your voice, not be fighting to hear the lyrics in the mix. (I’m sure this next one will go for most listeners, but) I want to be kept interested by your song, so well-done variation within it will have gone down well with me. Finally, it’s a competition with set challenges, so how well I think you meet the brief will obviously play a role in where I’ve positioned you, and thus a song can be great and brilliantly delivered, but still end up ranked lower.
Okay, first off, in alphabetic order, the Shadows:
SHADOW: Anon (727) – “Floating Away”
This is very atmospheric… I love your use of your vocal range, especially with the extremely high ‘floating away’. Some of the musical choices feel great, and some of the more in-your-face digital game-style sounds jar. I’m reminded of John Cage’s 4’33, which is all about taking the time to listen to the sounds happening all around you at any given moment. I have to say, it is a relief when the hiss finishes just before the end. In truth, I have no idea what I’ve just listened to, but kudos for submitting it!
SHADOW: Anon (d66) – “Rise”
This makes me smile to start with, and by the end leaves me feeling assaulted – mission accomplished?? I like the use of an odd time signature with the electric glissandi and the sinister “Rise…” Then we have the assault on our senses – that second section actually hurts my ears! You soothe me with a rave section before bringing it all crashing down for the end. The last 20 odd seconds of silence had me especially nervous! So, er, well done for totally unnerving this listener!
SHADOW: Bob Barton – “American Dream”
This is a nice take on the brief, trying to rise up out of poverty. You have good clear vocals and thoughtful lyrics (that don’t quite match what you submitted). The rising melody lines are another nod to the brief, well done. Another take or two to nail the delivery would have made this performance for me. And please let the end ring!
SHADOW: Jon Porobil – “Frayed Elevator Cable”
You make such effective use of space within this song, and the mandolin especially is such a great addition to your arsenal. Your lyrics and delivery speak to me of the deep grief state; well done and thank you for bravely sharing this. (My condolences also – we are scattering my father’s ashes in a week’s time and it certainly brings back all those emotions.)
And now, my feedback on the round 1 entries here is in rising order:
31 – Eric Novak: “Low Road”
There’s a very well known (in the UK at least) old Scottish song, The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond, whose most famous line is the same as your opening line, which is perhaps unfortunate, though thankfully you quickly dispel any similarities there! Your intro is purposeful, giving us your melody line via your slide guitar. You make good use of vocal range, mirroring the high and low of the road, and I like that you don’t stay safe with the melody line. I quite like the rambling nature of the lyrics against the bed of instrumentation – it suits your chosen subject matter. Be careful with your intonation at the end of lines and also especially on the ‘If I could’ parts – be sure of what note you are wanting and commit to it fully. I felt that the fade out ending was a bit of an easy out (as if you couldn’t think of how to end it). You could have perhaps sung the last couple of iterations of the ‘If I could’ acapella and left us hanging on your final ‘breath’? I also felt that other than the high and low road, there wasn’t much more done with the y-axis brief, and so this just misses the mark for me, hence this position.
30 – West of Vine: “Come Up on the Front Porch”
There is a lot of good in this, and it was a pleasant listen, so please don’t be put off by this position – it has been a very strong field, and mostly the reason I have positioned it here is due to feeling it doesn’t make enough of the brief. I wish you all the best in your upcoming gig. The lyrics tell a good story, and I like that it isn’t repetitive. You use ‘fucks to give’ well – you don’t over labour it but use it in appropriate context. (I appreciate a good in-context use of all the words a language has to offer.) The vocals are clear in the mix, and you have made strong use of panning (though a little less of the hard left/right would feel more natural and give a more live feel). I think this is a real drum kit being played? The snare is well miced, but would like to hear more of the toms. I like the change in texture via the strum pattern in ‘You can read my palm’ and the guitar lines in the instrumental break at the end are pleasing. Be careful on the final rit. – keep it tight for a strong ending.
29 – Jeff Walker: “Solid Ground”
This is another that I felt had a tenuous link to the brief beyond the line “comes down off that high horse”. (Your second verse helps lift you up a position.) I really like the movement in the melody of the sung vocals, and I love the slight gravel to your voice. The scanning of the lyrics sometimes feels forced, though you have a lot of content and I appreciate this. Great guitar lines in the break, and I like their counter melodies under the chorus. The mix is well done, with lyrics clear and balanced. I personally would prefer less high-hat centred drums and a bit more variety in the drum accompaniment. I wanted more from your ending too – it felt like it just runs out of steam. Overall this song is a grower though, and I would happily listen to it on the radio if it came on.
28 - Frédéric Gagné: “Slump”
I found this song very hard to rank, it made me smile and curled my toes all at the same time! So, first things first: that piano… I love an acoustic instrument, but this pub-style piano, whilst effective, is so badly tuned as to be painful (the toe curling bit). It’s hard to deliver in tune vocals over it, though you mostly nailed it (take care, be sure where you want the melody note to be). I’m intrigued by the choice of vox fx, and wondering if it is intentional or a way of hiding slightly? It just about suits the piece but not sure it was needed. I like the contrast in the accompaniment in the ‘My neck/back’ section, it creates a good lift and contrast. Your song is a great example of having lots of words in the lyrics but making it work. I appreciate the subtlety of your take on the brief – applying it to the smallest of vertical change (slouching verses sitting up straight) – and the ending feels well done and has intention behind it. There are times where I can hear a different quality of recording on your vocals, which highlights that they were done in different takes. (I have no issue with multiple takes and stitching to nail a recording, but the listener shouldn’t be aware of it.). Also be careful as I occasionally catch the re-looping of the piano accompaniment too.
27 – The Popped Hearts: “You’re Getting High, I’m Getting Down”
This meets the brief well lyrically, though on that note, it is very, er, brief! Given the context of the song, the intro is clever with that sudden drive taking off. You make some good use of stop/starts (could be slightly more). The spoken vocal is effective at first, but gets a little tiresome and I would have liked to hear you actually sing for variety. You obviously had a lot of fun creating this song, which comes through in the performance. I think it would be great to see live in a high-energy setting. (Side note – there’s no need to force the delivery of the word “shit” when you’re using it in a normal context like that. If you think of how you would have spoken that line in conversation it would have spanned differently, and this would have made it fit the song more comfortably for me.)
26 – Hanky Code: “The Bends”
The Bends is a clever take on the vertical, and the album artwork seems to pleasantly suit your song especially. The song is littered with up/down words keeping it very on point. I like the way you move around on the second ‘bends’, and the backing vocals have good variety, though I would have preferred them to change on repeated sections. Talking of which, there is an awful lot of repetition in this song. (Your ABA-ACA pattern gives us an awful lot of the A for eg and the fact that B and C are different can get lost.) On the double chorus, I think this would work better if the first part of the chorus didn’t end on the key chord – it needed to sound unfinished rather than final and then repeated. I like the instrumental – you could definitely have had more of this. Overall this is a well presented piece with clear vocals delivered well, it just needed more content/variety for me.
25 – Temnere: “Into the Darkness”
I love the drive this opens with – it got me excited, but then it quickly left me wondering if a double intro is needed? This actually became a theme for listening to this song – the instrumental is also doubled later on, and the whole song could have ended around 2’43 and told the same story it takes 4’21 to tell. I wanted more grit from your vocals to match the style of the music, and for your vocals to be brought up in the mix to be more in your face. I’d also love you to make more of the layered vocals when you bring them in – I think they were there on ‘Deep in the ruins’ but I had to really listen for them. Musically, you build up to something with the ‘lets draw our blades/and ride this day’ but then don’t take us there, leaving it feeling like a weird shift in direction. Lyrically and concept wise this is a great song, you set a scene and time and keep us there, and the whole depths of hell thing works with the brief, but I wanted more from your delivery to lift this higher.
24 – Braylee Pierce: “Dig Deep”
My first thought on this song was – yikes, over 5 minutes long?! Your idea of dig deeper works well to the brief and you keep the lyrics interesting and varied enough to handle being longer, but you stick to the same 3-chord progression for about 4 minutes, and all of those three chords has a high E in them, which unfortunately starts to grate after a while. Your voice works well with the guitar and kudos for the live performance (it would be good to edit out the switching on of the mic sound at the beginning perhaps, though I appreciated your audience cheer at the end). You have a strong vocal range which you make great use of and you performed the song really well. I would have liked more variety in the strum pattern, especially for a song this long, and I would consider shortening your intro by half. (It’s a very “live-performance” thing to have a long intro as you settle in and prepare for the song, but unless that intro holds interest for the listener it’s going to switch off listeners to a recording – there’s some fascinating articles out there about the impact of on-demand listening that has changed the way new pop songs are structured for maximum engagement. Whether it’s a good thing or not is a different debate…) My absolute favourite thing that you achieve in this performance is your fantastic use of dynamics. This is so refreshing and perhaps part of the benefits of live performance – you had obviously thought them through well and your delivery was spot on. You also didn’t shy away from putting emotion into your vocals, and this brought the song to life. Finally, think through how you end the song – what point is your song making? Does the ending make this point? How are you wanting to leave the audience?
23 – Phlub: “Straight to Hell”
This is a master class in production – your vocals are clear despite the distortion in the instrumentation, you’ve chosen textures well and don’t overload the verses. I love the soaring guitar against the dropping low ‘down’, that’s a really nice touch and a brilliant way to bring the music itself into answering the brief. Your intro felt like it had purpose, and thank you for letting the sound die away at the end. So, this position in the rankings is mainly due to the sheer length of this song without it taking me somewhere new (I don’t mind a long song if you capture my attention for it all) - it has a self-indulgent feel, especially in the chorus, and it sadly had me clock watching from about 3 minutes onwards.
22 – chewmeupspitmeout: “I was just the gravity”
The title for this gave me high hopes, and you have a strong lyrical content here. I like the balance, with great clear vocals, not overusing instruments (kudos for the clarinet!) and making some pleasing use of panning in the production. I love the contrast between the distorted guitars and the ethereal vocals – it’s really lovely to tie the performance in with the lyrical content. I found the mid-section to be too long, but the ‘just the gravity’ ending could have gone on longer for me, especially if you had layered some vocals there. Please let the reverb finish more naturally at the end. In general, while I think I’d really enjoy seeing this live, as a recording I wanted more coherence between segments, it was just a bit disjointed.
21 – Pigfarmer Jr.: “Nowhere to Go but Down”
You have a good balance between the vocals and the accompaniment, I like the mix of acoustic and electric guitar and how you don’t overdo this. I especially appreciate the use of the drums, you have really thought through that well, making it always relevant, not just ploughing through the entire song. The storytelling is also great here – I would like hear more rawness in your vocals to match as the drama unfolds. There’s a few places the lyrics don’t quite scan (eg verse 4 middle lines) and I would like more naturalness to the flow in the first verse line 3 into 4 (there wouldn’t be a pause after ‘when’ in normal speaking, and it just hangs there a bit disjointed here). Musically there is so much great stuff in here with the texture and accompaniment, but the way the melody of the verses and choruses start on the same note unfortunately starts to grate. I also think you could make use of backing vocals or harmonies as a tool in your arsenal. The ending is really well done – a superb example of telling the story right up to the last note with that potential flat-lining high note.
20 – Jim Tyrrell: “A Hole in the Rain”
I really struggled with where to place this song rankings wise. You successfully set a scene with this song, and the soundscape nature of your introduction works well. I can absolutely visualise the video to go with this song (shot through rainy window pane etc.). The vocals are beautifully clear in the mix and everything has been meticulously chosen and thought through for where it appears, and the groove you create is so catchy. It’s a great song that I enjoy listening to a lot, but other than ‘digging down’, I do wonder how much this otherwise hits the brief, and as others have done much more with it, I have placed you here.
19 – Nightingale’s Fiddle: “Ballad of Susie Ann”
Thank you for bringing a folk song into this competition. Your lyrics are fantastic, and I love the ‘Head Up… don’t go down…’ Kudos for the live performance and fairly good balance between vocals and the harp. I know how hard it is to sing and play something different from the vocal line in your right hand, but I really would have appreciated some greater variety there (perhaps harmony line, countermelody or simply letting it be part of the rhythmic accompaniment) rather than it doubling your vocal throughout. The instrumental break shows what a great player you are, and the cuts (grace notes) you use there could have really added something of interest in the verse accompaniment I feel. The LH cross-timing notes are effective. I would have liked more flow between the sections however. The descending melody on the repeated downs works well. I’m not sure about the purpose of the Tierce di Picardie ending as Susie Ann meets her own end, but either way, please let it ring at the end, don’t cut the recording short.
18 – Berkley Social Scene: “Atop the Sutro Tower”
I love the drive you create with the intro, I wonder if this could have come in under the vocals sometimes rather than just being between. I would like the jangly guitar to have been further back in the mix so that your vocals were clearer. (The first chorus could easily be misheard as ‘I climb the karma sutra tower’ and that would have been a whole different song entirely!) The guitar harmony solo lines in the instrumental break are superb. You make good use of call and response, though the hard left panning of the higher-pitched response vocals is perhaps a bit much. Be careful with your lyrics spanning well, there are a few places you rush the syllables to make them fit and it slightly jars. Kudos on having ‘mangoes and kumquats’ in as a line though! The robots uprising is clever, and just stops me from querying the meeting of the brief as the view from the high tower isn’t quite enough for me. You’re a superb vocalist and I especially like the delivery on the last line. I also enjoyed the squeak right at the end (another robot rising up?) but then the glissando cut short was curious.
17 – Brain Weasels: “Root to Rise (Overdrive)”
Blimey, this is exhausting to listen to! I’m not sure if the contrast of musical style to the yoga practice it is based on is genius or the wrong choice. I certainly find it quite hard to get the most from the lyrics with fitting so much in, though the (pre-?)chorus comes as a relief. You do meet the brief well with the content, I like the idea of the body being on the y-axis. I am trying to figure out if this song is catchy or too repetitive. I like the variety in the accompaniment, eg from verse 1 to verse 2, and that bass line in the instrumental break is ace, though it might have been nice to have a change in melody here rather than repeating the verse melody? I appreciate the ending a lot, and I can totally imagine dancing like a loon if I were to see this performed live at a festival.
16 – The Dutch Widows: “Above it All”
Straight off the bat, you start with a low note lyric ‘High’ followed by a rising melody, and I’m immediately satisfied that you’ve really worked with the brief, thank you! I would like the vocals to be higher in the mix so I don’t have to work so hard to make them out, and the drums come close to grating after a while, the bridge coming at just the right time for a breather. This song is a grower, but I would like more variety in it – could you bring in some vocal layers perhaps? Maybe even an a cappella chorus? A bit more variety to the texture instrument wise? (The guitars are constantly jangly for eg.) Your lyrical content is great, with well spread nods to the vertical throughout without feeling laboured, and other than the too-quiet vocals the mix is great, with nice use of panning too.
15 – Cavedwellers: “Z-axis”
This song made me smile! You obviously had fun writing the lyrics for this, and there’s some lovely word play (including the ‘A bee… seas’ as well as the more obvious xyz references). It does feel a bit like you made a list of relevant terms and then made them fit, do make sure that the song still tells the story you want it to. I like the high note on the word ‘down’ in verse 2, a nice contrast. I love the soaring guitars in the instrumental break but ouch, the jump back is clumsy. You make great use of the vocal layering, from unison to the harmonies in the bridge. With the choruses always having the same content, you could have brought some variety in with different wording in the 2nd pre-chorus. And the endings of the choruses unfortunately disappoint me – you could have gone a different direction vocally here on the ‘(in)crease your Z’ to make it more of a statement. Thank you for letting the cymbal ring out at the end. Overall a good foot-tapper of a song.
14 – Siebass: “It’s Going Down”
This song is interesting… I like the different styles of vocals used, and love the rap in verse 2 – you deliver that brilliantly. Bringing us in with what I can only describe as a walking into the room effect on the intro is well done. I wonder if you could have used your panning skills (which are evident in the backing vocal distribution) to create a room spinning effect at some point or at least the sense of movement? The ‘down’ over the bridge is great, I think you could have had vocal harmonies on the pre-choruses too, which would have suited the lyrical content there too. I do like that you vary the second pre-chorus with the additional backing responses. I love all the high ‘down’s towards the end of the song, and as you kept the song brief the repetitions don’t become too much. You just about meet the brief for me (yes, you use the line ‘it’s going down’ a lot but is that enough) – the addition of the ‘downbeat’ line and the visual that gives me helps cement it.
13 – Jealous Brother: “Climbing the Fascist Ladder”
Well this sure meets the brief, well done! You give a pleasing contrast of cheesy upbeat music and dark lyrical content. (As I’ve mentioned this for others, you use ‘fuck’ very comfortably, present in context and only slightly laboured – you don’t have to stress it, just let it exist like the rest of the words in your lyrics). Your content is good with great variety, apart from when you use the hook line to end the chorus and then in the start of each verse, which jars in the one place you go directly from chorus to verse 2. You have a strong vocal delivery (love the harmonies) and fantastic guitars, with a great walking bass line (yes I hear the ascending line). The cheesy rising key-changes suit the song well and are a brilliant musical nod to the brief. I feel this song would work well over a montage in a Deadpool movie! The final five chords are especially amusing.
12 – Mandrake: “Volume”
This is a well thought out piece, an intriguing opening, great falling chorus melody, variety in the backing between verses and build up of distortion. The musical interweaving is great. Lyrically you have great long lines that span well, I do wonder at the choice of fx for the vocal though – you have a good voice and your vocals are on point so you don’t need to hide it behind such a heavy effect. I would like to hear more harmonies from you, not just octave doubling. The ‘funny bleepy interlude’, whilst fitting, felt a little tedious being the exact same melody as the verses; it would have been great if this had gone elsewhere. The ending is grand though, a great example of having put thought into the message of the song being delivered. On that note, you create some dynamic variety through the weighting of the instrumentation involved, but could you have used some actual volume contrast?
11 – Boffo Yux Dudes: “EDL – Entry, Descent and Landing”
The piano really makes this – you use it well, drawing us in in the intro, but not overdoing it. The descending scales that rise a note for each descent are a superb addition given the nature of the brief, and your lyrical content is full of vertical reference, thank you so much for these! I think you are using some form of an electric piano? If you had access to an acoustic one we would really benefit from hearing the percussive nature of it, feeling the hit more on the top notes of each scale for eg. (Actually, maybe it’s a weighted keys thing?) The layered vocals work well, though for textural variety it would be good to not use them throughout (your voice is good, the constant layering feels a little like trying to hide?). We can clearly hear and understand your lyrics in the mix, I would personally try and make the drum presence a little more subtle. (Also, do you hit your mic at 57secs?) I wanted more from your outro (repetition of final lines over it perhaps? Give it a purpose…), but the final sound is cool and you let it die away, 8s well spent! Overall this was a really catchy song with lots of lyrical content (I love the line ‘give me a brake’) and some really well thought out musical ideas that meant you answered the brief in more than one way, and that makes me very happy.
10 – Hot Pink Halo: “Aim High”
I visited Paris last month, so I especially appreciate the imagery and concepts shared here. I love how you commit to your subject matter, the way you include actual audio captured of climbing the Eiffel Tower is fantastic. I like the higher pitched twinkle against this deep bass sound, and that you let steer clear of other drum content. The pace of your song is also a welcome change in listening to these 31 songs; it is always brave to take on a slower pace where everything is more exposed but you nail it. Lyrically your song works fine without the background information, but it definitely lifts it (no pun intended) when that knowledge is shared. I like the leap in the melody for ‘aim high’, and also the way you different vocal fx effectively as another texture layer. Be careful with diction – we lose the final hard sounds on many of the lines (eg one line becomes ‘if you were for the win’). The doubled vocals are effective, especially with how you have them panned – might you consider doing some harmonies at points too? You could also have added some ‘aim high’ backings over the bridge lines and this would have built yet another textural layer in. At the end, although you let the sounds themselves finish, the hiss could still have been faded out rather than the abrupt stop. I feel that you really thought out every element of this song extremely carefully, from the lyrical content to all the choices you made musically and texturally; it is all very professional and exact. I think I would have liked a touch more human-ness (fallibility?) in it, and I guess by that I mean – take a chance and push out of your comfort zone a little, allow something in there that may not be ‘perfect’ but can still be effective.
9 – Sober: “On Penobscot Bay”
I love the pace of this, and the 6/8 timing is refreshing, thank you. I like the build of instrumental layers and the layered vocals towards the end. I’m not totally sold on the drums (I’d love to hear it without them…) The picking is nicely placed, though it risked being overdone when doubling over the slide guitar (nicely saved by the change in direction at the end). I like the delivery of ‘hearts full like a sail/we’re hauling up…’. Generally I don’t have a huge amount to say on this song – it’s a lovely lilting number, well presented, that just and so meets the brief with the rise and fall of the boats.
8 – Governing Dynamics: “Downfall”
This is a really coherent song, all the parts fitting together and flowing well. I appreciate the variety in the textures, not overbearing the verse vocals with instrumentation. You have worked fantastically with the brief, not just with the lyrical content but with the way the music works underneath too. I especially like the occasional internal rhyme (swelling/dwelling, wall/hall etc) – these are touches of someone who really has a way with words. Be careful with the scan of the lyrics in the bridge – it stands out for not being as smooth as the rest of the song. You have paid attention to the production, with good panning and mostly clear vocals (careful not to lose them in the bridge behind the guitars). Your use of higher vocal range is really effective after the safer range of the first half. Could you have added vocal harmonies on the final chorus? Your intro is long – could you have achieved what you wanted in half the space? And the end feels like you’re not quite sure how to finish – does that last little three note turn really convey the song’s message?
7 – Tunes by LJ: “Beneath You – Over It”
You start with such strength and confidence, and I love the pacing you achieve with the spaced intro going into that fantastic groove. I appreciate the piano. The space you give to the vocals is great, and then the ending fx used is an effective texture change. The ‘beneath you/over it’ is a fantastic answer to the brief. Overall this song makes me smile, it is well thought through and every element feels intentional and moreover, feels natural. I absolutely wanted this song to be longer, maybe with another contrast section (chord-wise). You could have had some of the ‘blame it’ lyrics repeated over the final lines of the song, that would have been effective. You are obviously really capable, so I want more from you, don’t stay safe.
6 – Ominous Ride: “Vertigo”
The layered harmonies on the vocals are lovely, and I especially like the textural variety you create with the backing(descending) aahs later. The build in the chorus is effective, fitting the content, and the lift on ‘fall’ is nicely chosen. Lyrically you really utilise the vertical without shoe-horning it in, meeting the brief beautifully, and starting one set of verses with ‘High’ and another with ‘Down’ is a great touch. Production wise it is well mixed with clear lyrics, and I love that there are no drums, you create your percussive drive through the strum patterns well. I did a first listen to all the songs without looking at your notes, and you’re right – the tempo change is unfortunately very noticeable and it definitely jars at first, though on repeated listens it becomes less significant. Take care with your intonation in the last section, and also the way your vocals line up on the last three lines of the song – you can absolutely do it so it’s worth taking the time to nail it. I do like the high pitched backing final ‘vertigo’ though. Does the outro need to be that long and is a fade the most effective way of letting your story hang there? (Your answer may be yes of course… I’m just thoughtful about it, after such a strong way of starting the song.)
5 – iveg: “Flames Descend”
This is fantastically dark with your choice of tonality and texture, and I like the distorted guitars that don’t overbear. The use of delay on your vocals is really effective (especially on the line ‘just out of reach’). I’m in two minds about the treatment of your voice however, I can’t decide if it is intentional or not – if it is, it could certainly suit the idea that maybe you’re on a bad connection reporting the news… The descending melodies of your ‘flames descend’ lines is a nice touch, and I like the use backing vocals at key moments. Your performance is evocative and has a rawness to it that helps create the sense of urgency and drama (even if some of those high notes are not quite in your comfort zone). You don’t waste any time in this song, from the brief intro through to the way you bring it to an end, it is well done. I found myself waiting for a heavy drum-based instrumental section, and overall you certainly leave us wanting more (both from the story and of the song).
4 – Stacking Theory: “One More Love Song”
So first off, thank you for introducing me to Sisyphus, a story vaguely familiar but good to get to know, and your chorus lyrics are all the more effective for it. This song is so well put together. It has great variety and space, yet it mostly doesn’t feel shoe-horned (what is going on with that boy-band style ending from 2’09??) Your vocal range is phenomenal and I love that you make such strong use of it (that bass note gives me goosebumps), and it helps you to get away with such a long intro. I always like it when you can hear an accent in the singing, it feels more real for it. I love the ascending musical lines under the chorus, backing up the lyrical content (and meeting the brief, obviously). I would absolutely have ended this at 1’57 on the words ‘I get to hear/one more love song’ – that gear shift of an ending is why I have ranked you fourth not higher...
3 – The Pannacotta Army: “Still Coming Up Short”
Ah, a waltz… beautiful! The clarinet is gorgeous, and fits the texture well. I love the circus-style of this as the piano and the semitone movements in the accompaniment lay the bed for your great vocals. You make good use of the theme of height and coming up short, and you have pleasing variety in the lyrics; nothing is overdone. I would like to hear a little clearer diction on the ends of lines (it sometimes sounds like ‘coming up sure’ for eg) but otherwise a superbly performed piece with a good, decisive finish, that transports me elsewhere as I listen. Thank you.
AND FINALLY, THE TOP TWO…
One of the most notable reasons you two are at the top of this rather fantastic pile is that these last few days I have woken up singing both your songs. When you factor in that I haven’t listened to them for several days as I have been writing up my notes above, that really is saying something. Well done both! Now, on to specifics…
2 – Glennny: “Crazy Climber”
First off, this really is an excellent response to the brief, not only lyrically but also with your musical playfulness too (eg, the falling melody on ‘scale up the building’ and the literal climbing high repetitions of ‘crazy climber’). The use of the ‘go for it’ from the actual game soundtrack is a nice touch, and the few other sounds you added too. You make strong and intentional use of layered vocals, with appropriate panning to support, and I love the harmonies. The vocal call and responses are effective, as are all the different sections, which hold together well. Your vocal range and ability to stay on point with it is superb. I would have appreciated a little more variety to the accompaniment as the sound risks overpowering the song, (the interlude at 1’46 is welcome but then the texture returns to the distorted guitar). The last rounds of scale up the building start to wear a little thin – I would like more varied content lyrically, though I appreciate there may not have been a great deal more to say whilst sticking so close to the game content. The ending, (when you reach it), is brilliant though – and I love the drop down to ‘fall’ and the way you cut away all else. (Thank you for letting the reverb fully fade away too!)
1 – GFS: “Vertical Vision”
This song to me is THE ONE… I love how you go straight into the vocals, and the combination of your voices is really powerful. The descending melody on ‘looking up’ pleases. The music creates interest and drive; it’s well structured, we are not hit with everything all the way through. The backing instrumental octave leap as a core is great, and such a pleasing nod to the brief, along with the lyric content. Your lyrics don’t get boring despite repetition, (for eg, I like how you bring in something new under your final lyrics to keep it interesting), and kudos for using ‘shit’ without labouring it - it fits. The performance and the production on this song is so well done, and listening to it on headphones just highlights the full breadth of what you have done with this. You give space where it is needed, you layer the vocals beautifully, not just in terms of harmonies but in layering sections over each other (eg ‘looking up’ under the 2nd verse). Your vocals are also really clean, with great diction and the layers line up perfectly. And finally, thank you for letting the fade complete at the end!
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