UK based singer-singwriter, Alexander Joseph, releases his new single, Firefly (Acoustic Version), today. We’ve been taking a listen here at the Send Me Your Ears Studio.
There’s something really genuine and endearing about a songwriter who writes from their own experiences. Joseph seems to be just that. Hellbent on ensuring that he shares his life with his listeners, this is an admirable trait. Firefly is about finding the light in the darker moments in life, and indeed, Joseph’s songwriting theme seems to be one of overcoming obstacles.
Firefly is a gentle, and very short, song with acoustic guitar and minimal percussion. The song starts with a very cool effect on the guitars with them being low passed at the start and then sweeping in.
Firefly is very much a guitar led song and we can imagine this being a great song for sitting round a campfire with. Joseph’s catchy chorus will have the listener joining in by the second time around and the familiar chord sequence will be simple to follow for anyone who happened to bring a guitar to the party!
Vocally sounding a little like Jack Johnson or Chris Martin (Coldplay), Johnson’s voice sits front and centre throughout the song with the occasional well placed harmonies added. The voice has a relaxed, almost spoken range and it feels as though Alexander Joseph is sticking well within his comfort zone with the melodies.
There are some modern production effects on the vocals which have created a little too much “honk” in the track to our personal taste. We’d suggest a dip in the EQ around 500-600Hz especially at around 550Hz to counteract them sounding just a little unnatural. This will balance out the vocals and make them feel a little more natural. If, however, the intention was to make the vocals fit in line with more modern production then kudos to Joseph for crossing that genre line.
We feel also that the kick is a little dominant in the track at around 45Hz and would suggest considering just notching it out a touch here.
With a catchy chorus and some great use of panning, Firefly is a song which has lots of potential for air play or perhaps a sync deal for TV or, we think in particular, an advertisement campaign. We see that Joseph has already gained some air play with BBC Introducing (a great coup) and would suggest that he now seeks out singer-songwriter radio shows and internet shows that specialise in folk and acoustic music.
Firefly is the first we’ve heard from UK singer-songwriter, Alexander Joseph, but we have no doubt that we’ll be hearing a great deal more. With catchy hooks, simple chord sequences anda singalong chorus, what’s not to love?