Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been listening to the latest single from Adam Fitch. New York-based Fitch releases Before I Died today, June 30, 2023.
Before I Died is melancholy, yet deeply hopeful and redemptive. It is meant to capture a person’s journey from ego death into self-love and understanding. It is a clever journey into recognising one’s own negative patterns in life and working towards healing and learning more about ourselves. We absolutely loved the line, “Who I am is healing who I was.”
Before I Died fades in with some deep and warm expertly-picked acoustic guitar, reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel. There are some beautiful incidental strings used to fill out the sound, and the whole song takes on a gentle and relaxing folk-song feel.
When the vocals come in, they are layered and have a touch of Claudio Sanchez (Coheed and Cambria) in their more gentle acoustic songs. There are, as the song progresses, some lovely panned harmony vocals, and we loved the use of voices as instruments with various “oohs” and “aahs” filling the soundscape beautifully.
When percussion joins the mix, it is distant and muted – perfectly allowing the listener to focus on the lyrics, whilst still adding extra interest. We like the use of strings in the second verse for the same reason.
A breakdown section with just strings and vocals gives Fitch the opportunity to display his vocal abilities to the full, with the song building with a close-to-the-mic intimate vocal, and a more powerful distant vocal – a really pleasing listen. As you are led out of the bridge, there is a wonderful build to a change of tempo and the counter-melodies are just superb here.
Ideas from our ears
A small but wide cut centred around 160Hz and a boost centred around 8-10kHz might help balance the track out slightly. A cut around 600-700Hz in the vocal track could remove some occasional ‘honky’ tones too. As always, these are just some ideas from our ears.
Final Thoughts
Adam Fitch’s, Before I Died, is a clever exploration of self-love and letting go of our egos for a more enriching life. Musically and vocally impressive, this is a track we strongly urge you to add to your playlist today.
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