Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been listening to the latest single from Bad Ass Beauty. We’ve reviewed Bad Ass Beauty a couple of times before and are consistently impressed with her diversity and creativity. Broken is her latest single and was released on 21st April 2023.
We were particularly drawn to Bad Ass Beauty’s inspiration behind this song:
“Don’t ask me for any love/relationship advice. I have no clue what a decent, happy true love relationship is because I’ve never had one. Ever. Ask me about toxic, manipulative, obsessive, controlling, abusive relationships I can write a book. Maybe I will down the road…but for now… here’s a song about all of them combined into one depressing 3-minute and 28-second tune. It’s dark, it’s emo, it’s uncomfortable, it’s a little creepy…it’s vocally disjointed and linear. It’s exactly how I was feeling when I wrote it but also a love letter to what I will NEVER accept or allow in my life again.” Many artists are writing about toxic and narcissistic relationships at the moment and it’s a wonderful outlet and turn of events that such issues are now being talked about so openly.
Bad Ass Beauty does a superb job of matching her disjointed state-of-mind in such relationships with the music of the song. The track, as she says, is emo and uncomfortable.
Broken starts with some cool heavy metal synth rock sounds and some higly skillful guitar incidentals before leading into the vocal section. The vocals here are repetitive and follow the guitar line. This works well for this style of music – Rage Against The Machine are masters of this style – and it matches the theme here perfectly.
The vocals are almost rap-like in places and the overall style reminded us a little of the Canadian girl group, The Beaches. Whilst Bad Ass Beauty has an outstanding voice (we know from previous recordings), the focus here isn’t on the quality of the voice, it’s about creating an infectious, commercially viable track, and that’s exactly what she’s achieved in Broken.
The drums in this track are superb, with some masterful playing and fantastic fills. We love that the drummer really gets the chance to shine during the breakdown section. The rise and fall within the track keeps the listener on their toes, and overall, you’re left at the end with an emo rock piece of art.
Ideas from our ears
A hi-pass filter around 35Hz and a boost around 50Hz would enhance the thump of the kick drum. A careful cut at 195Hz-200Hz would reduce the slightly dominant tone of the snare dum too. Lastly, a high shelf boost set around 9kHz could increase the brightness in the track. A stereo plug-in used sparingly would also help give the track a little more ‘space’. As always, these are just some ideas from our ears.
Final thoughts
Bad Ass Beauty is making a name for herself as a highly versatile and competent songwriter. We’re looking forward to hearing more!
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