Today at the Send Me Your Ears studio we’ve been listening to the latest single from Bonded Jacky, a queer, LA based musician and artist who describes themselves as a gangly girl with an
unmistakable schoolboy energy. “Didgeridoo” is the name of this release and it’s one of the most heartfelt and heart wrenching tracks that we’ve listened to in a long time.
You could simply listen to this track and say it’s a nice, creative and unique song, but to really get a good understand of the track, a little back story may be necessary. Didgeridoo is a tribute to Bonded Jacky’s late childhood best friend. The lyrics are clever and emotive. They take you on a real journey of childhood loss and the feeling that never quite goes away.
Didgeridoo is clever in that it’s style shifts halfway through which, although it helps to invest the listener even further in the song, it also serves to show how the mind shifts during the grieving process and the total musical shift in this song, just under half way through is positively inspired.
Didgeridoo starts gently on beautifully well recorded, stereo, acoustic guitar with some sounds of perhaps a playground in the background. It has a hugely warm feeling to it and when Bonded Jacky’s vocals come in, they are smooth and breathy. Just a little fragile and vulnerable. The emotion in the lyrics is evident in the performance.
The song develops well with piano fills and a distant echoing kick drum. By this point we are truly invested in what appears to be an utterly charming folk song. At around 1 minute in, we’re treated to the total musical shift to a much rockier style track. More playground noises and a much stronger, Avril Lavigne type vocal comes out and you feel that the emotion is changing. Just as it would during the grieving process.
From a production perspective, we’d suggest a cut in the vocals at around 400Hz and perhaps a little more compression to bring them further forward in the mix. A boost around 5kHz will help give the vocals just a touch more clarity in the busier sections of the song.
This truly is an exceptional, heartfelt work of art. An absolutely beautiful tribute to a lost childhood friend. This haunting and emotive song will stay with you. We hope to hear a great deal more from this outstanding artist. Our favourite in the studio today.