Northern UK based, BIRDMAN CULT, have just released their latest single, Let Me Out, and we’ve had the chance to take a listen here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today.
In lead vocalist, Joe’s words; “ Let Me Out’ was born out of a visit to my home town in the North East, feeling like an outsider in the place that raised me, being reminded of an old version of myself and realising the impact a place can have on a person. Good or bad, for many there’s an innate want to leave the place they were born. The song is meant to be an appreciative nod to a town much like a friend that i’ve outgrown but seems to be on my mind constantly”
Let Me Out is a punky/garage/ stoner rock track that hits you the moment it starts. Straight in with a repeated guitar riff and some lovely toms work, the introduction sets the scene for the whole song. Let Me Out feels like a song that just keeps on building. Starting as it means to go on, with the repeated riff on the guitar, the instrumentation just keeps getting bigger and bigger. There’s no rise and fall in the track. It feels “all rise”.
The vocalist lets you know he means business by letting out a low, guttural yell at the start of the track. It feels a little ominous and sets the mood well. When the lead vocals come in properly, we were reminded, just a touch of Sisters of Mercy, but in a Northern UK accent! As the song progresses, the vocals get increasingly strong and passionate, there’s a real creativity to this track that helps it stand out among similar style artists.
From a production perspective, a large and wide boost in the mids centred around 1.5kHz would ‘fill out’ the track a little. It feels a little distant to us, and a boost here would give the track some extra character. An additional high shelf boost set around 8kHz would give the track a little more brightness. This may however result in some brittle and slightly piercing tones, particularly during sibilant parts of the vocal track and certain parts of the drum track. This could be controlled by adding a single band compressor to the 5kHz – 10kHz area. Overall, the track is quite quiet so a light compressor on the master with some make up gain would bring it more in line with similar releases.
Birdman Cult was a new name to us today, but we’re impressed. With a great subject matter, captivating vocals and some great musicianship, Let Me Out is surely one to add to your playlist today.