BLUE SHIRT CHARLIE – CRAZY WOMAN

Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been listening to the latest single from Blue Shirt Charlie. Crazy Woman was released on the 9th of March, 2023 and reflects on the lost moments of a relationship that is tangled up in mental health struggles.

We’ve reviewed Blue Shirt Charlie before with their Status-Quo-like single, Shelter. As fans of the Mars McClanes, too, we’re always happy to hear from Blue Shirt Charlie (a side project of the Mars McClanes).

Crazy woman starts with short sharp rhythmic strums on guitars with a simple 4/4 drum beat underneath. This rhythm continues throughout most of the song and gets under your skin as you listen. The catchy choruses and heartfelt lyrics all add to a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

As the song progresses, keys and additional vocals are added. The lead vocals reminded us a little of Guy Garvey (Elbow) or Bruce Springsteen (in his gentler moments!)

We love the incidental keys in the super-catchy chorus. At times they interweave between the vocal lines; other times, they follow the melody and bolster the vocals. A well-placed stop leads you into the second verse.

There are some awesome stereo toms in the first breakdown of the song, together with some filtered and distant vocals before exploding back into the main song. A second breakdown sees the drums drop out with swirling keys and guitars before building and building to a stinger ending, which left us more than ready to hit replay.

Whilst not wishing to pigeonhole Nashville artists, this is an interesting style of song for a band from a city so well known for country music. This particular track feels like Britpop straight out of Nashville (!) and reminded us a little of Getting Better by the Beatles.

Ideas from our ears

To our ears, there is a ‘boomy’ tone around 180Hz so a small cut centred here could help balance out the low end. The vocal track could use a drop around 430Hz too. There is a slight harshness around 2kHz so a cut here could smooth it out. A wide boost across the top two octaves with an additional high shelf boost in the top octave could increase the brightness and presence, bringing out the sizzle in things like the snare wires and cymbals. As always, these are just some ideas from our ears.

Final thoughts

It’s always a pleasure to hear Blue Shirt Charlie in our ears. Their music is creative, and their musicianship is always at the forefront of their songs. We’re very excited about this talented Nashville-based indie band.

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