LA (US) based artist, Bel-la, has just released her latest single, Nothing’s Gonna Get You Back, and we’ve been taking a listen here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today.
Nothing’s Gonna Get You Back is a retro feeling 80s/90s pop/indie track with a vocal a touch reminiscent of Belinda Carlisle. The song is drums and bass led, with additional instrumentation provided by a distant hammond and some incidental guitars.
In Bel-La’s words; “The inspiration for this song was really the sentiment of loss in general, loved ones passing, relationships ending etc and how even though these things are no longer in a physical form they still exist so strongly all around us and in our memories, and the fabric of our vast lives.”
There’s a tone to the guitar solo that was very reminiscent of Edwyn Collins (A Girl Like You). Showing that Bel-La is more than just the vocalist on this track, the solo is interesting and challenging with a good note selection, feeling as though this is an instrument that she’s really put some effort into learning theory as well as technique.
Bel-La’s voice is smooth and warm, and with some occasional harmonies in the chorus, this feels like a song that would work well for a sync deal. Bel-La has mentioned in her publicity that she has had some success in this area before and it feels that Nothing’s Gonna Get You Back would be another good candidate for sync.
From a production perspective, we noticed that there is a lot of rumble in the sub bass so a hi-pas filter around 35Hz would be a good idea. The kick drum sound is peaking at around both 40Hz and 80Hz so a small cut at these points would help to balance it out. The overall track sounds a little dark and distant so a large wide boost centred around 8-9kHz would be a good idea. An additional high shelf boost in the top octave would add some ‘air’ to the track too. In terms of our opinion of the mix; the drum machine track is dominating throughout. The guitar solo which took a while to notice is very distant and very low in the mix.
This is an interesting, well written track which is well performed with some great vocal moments and a beautiful guitar solo. We feel that a few tweaks to the mix and master would really bring this to life and make it an absolutely unmissable track. We’re looking forward to hearing what Bel-La brings to the table next.