Newcastle (UK) based Bosola have a new single out today – Ophelia Headstrong.
Ophelia Headstrong has a great lyrical message. This is a song about following your dreams. Its especially for the women out there who are called headstrong or “pushy” or “too strongwilled”. This song is from two perspectives; one of jealousy and the other of support. I love this. This is a really clever theme and one which truly resonates with us at Send Me Your Ears.
Ophelia Headstrong is a radio friendly length indie rock song which starts really strongly with an exciting drum fill, followed by electric guitars that give you a good idea of what you’re to expect for the song. The rhythm is super-funky and the offbeat hits on the snare make it really cool.
There’s some lovely breakdown sections with guitar stabs and awesome drum fills. I bet these guys are a lot of fun to watch live. Speaking of which they have some tour dates coming up. Check them out if you’re in the North of England.
March 14th – Support for Nadia Sheikh at Little Buildings – Deliberator Records
March 27th – Playing Sound and Service at 3 Tanner’s bank, North Shoelds
April 9th – Headline little buildings with support from The Avelons and Sirens
April 15th – Acoustic Show at The Arches – The Arches
May 1st – Headline Shooting Gallery with Charts and Graphs + Crux
May 7th – HMV instore, Newcastle
Ophelia Headstrong is like a cleaned up punk song. The performances from the instrumentalists are more polished than punk and the overall sound is much cleaner. Bosola kind of sound like a punk band that gave enough of a care to practice and put a lot of effort in!
From my own perspective on production, I’d give a lot more top end in the mix – especially in the drums and vocals. Don’t be afraid to compress the hell out of the vocals – they’re the main part of a song that people will be listening for. I found the message exhilaratingly refreshing from the biography, but really did struggle to hear many of the lyrics whilst actually listening to the song. Personally I’d boost the kick around 50-60Hz to give it a little more thump and I can hear the tuning of the snare around 2-220Hz so perhaps consider a dip there – its just making the mix a little muddy in my opinion.
I enjoyed this fast paced indie rock song from Bosola. They look to be at the start of a very promising music career and I very much look forward to watching them progress.