Bath (UK) singer-songwriter, Ali George, has just released his latest single, Little Prophecy, and for lovers of superbly crafted Americana, this song is going to tick every single box for you. We here at the Send Me Your Ears studio have taken several listens and have, quite simply, fallen in love with this artist.
Little Prophecy starts with some beautiful acoustic guitar picking. Ali’s warm and gentle voice joins the mix and you just know you’re in for a stunning ride. That all important second verse maintains interest by adding in the most gorgeous acoustic basslines and the song also adds in some fantastic harmonies that develop into a chorus of voices. A very gentle organ helps to fill out the sound and sits perfectly in the mix.
We absolutely have to draw attention to the precision playing on the acoustic guitar. It just flows out of Ali as if he was born playing. The fills are just spectacular. They’re very reminiscent of Mark Knopfler’s style of acoustic playing. Ali George is a true talent.
Whilst remaining a simple song, Little Prophecy continues to develop and at around 2 minutes in, some drums come in to fill the sound out even more. At around 2 minutes 15 there is a wonderful build with some unexpected notes that just draw you into Ali’s world even further.
Ali’s vocals are warm and welcoming throughout. This is a voice that you could listen to for hours. His control and abilities are evident in the spectacular long note at the end of the track.
Little Prophecy is the epitome of a perfectly written song. It is one which could easily be stripped down to just guitar and vocals to perform as a solo artist, but one which welcomes the development of additional instrumentation.
From a production perspective, there may be a couple of places where the guitar tone is peaking slightly in the low mids. A couple of cuts at around 200Hz and again around 260Hz would balance these out a little and reduce some ‘muddiness’. A cut in the vocal track around 500-550Hz would reduce some slightly boxy tones. We also feel the track could benefit from a wide boost across the high mids and highs centred around 8kHz. This would help to bring out the zing of the drums when they come in.
One of our favourites this week, Ali George has created a wonderfully authentic Americana track which warmed our souls. We urge you to add this artist to your playlist.