AMBIANCZ released “What Real Love Is” at the end of 2021. This is a smooth, almost acid jazz track with some lovely touches and great vocals.
I’m drawn to the real warmth and depth in the vocal track. They’re clear and sit very nicely in the mix. Sometimes the vocals are doubled, sometimes they’re doing an almost call and response (towards the end of the track). Some great genre-suiting reverbs on the vocals give them a real smooth sultry feel. I was reminded of Dionne Warwick or perhaps Lisa Stansfield in places.
I was particularly impressed with the bass work on this track. It almost feels like its own solo instrument and at times it really takes the lead and sits front and centre in the track demanding to be listened to. Which was just fine with me, its superbly played.
The bass is backed up by some lovely kind of vibraphone style keys – again played well and very subtle. Just enough to bolster the vocals.
Whilst I’m speaking of the instrumentation used, I must give kudos to the drummer. Lovely jazzy virtuoso playing here with some unexpected, but expertly played fills.
For me, the focus really is the vocals. I could feel them just washing over me. This is the stuff of a smoky jazz club at 2 in the morning.
As a song, What Real Love Is, doesn’t hugely develop. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but there’s no refrain, no structure, no repetition so nothing for the listener to get their teeth into and feel familiar. It is, however, a relaxing soundscape that we found ourselves swaying to. A great chill out/ background track.
From a production point of view, I felt there was just slightly too much sibilance in the vocal track – a bit of a peak around 10kHz that I’d suggest notching out in future. Overall though, a very well produced ambient track.
I enjoyed the vocals and bass interplay here very much. This is a gorgeously warm and inviting track that I can see doing well on the jazz and soul scene.
We give this track four ears out of five
