Vancouver based “Coastal Town” are a collective of musicians, many of whom are still in high school.
This is a song written about the time that the brother of one of the artists took them to their first show – A Daft Punk concert!
There are male and female vocals throughout the track. They take it in turn with the male vocal singing the lower range song and the female singer belting out her parts. There are times when there are more than one female vocalist singing in unison, other times when there are some sweet harmonies coming in.
The overall feel of this song is almost 80s pop, which is surprising considering the age of the majority of the band. There’s an almost OMD feel in places, perhaps Erasure, whilst the guitarist brings the sound back to the early 90s with a definite nod to Daft Punk style guitar riffs.
Still shining has some rise and fall in it to maintain interest. I particularly like the build at around 2 minutes 30 seconds.
This song gets in your head. The catchy hook of repeated “still shining” “still grinning” are still sitting with me as I write up this review after our analysis.
The female vocals cut through the mix nicely and clearly. I felt that the male vocals were a little lost. Probably recorded quieter as they were rather low and possibly needing a little more compression.
The overall mix is missing a little top end in my opinion and I’d certainly consider a boost around 60-70Hz to bring the kick drum impact through a little more. This feels like a song where the low end should really thump you in the chest.
There’s a missed opportunity, I think, in the repeated chorus at the end for some development. Perhaps a guitar solo over the vocals? Something to make the second chorus different from the first.
At almost four minutes, this isn’t hugely likely to hit the ears of commercial radio station music directors, but it is, nonethless a sweet tune that puts a smile on your face. Perhaps more suited to college radio in Canada.
Coastal Town seem to me to be a very passionate and driven act who are keen to get the word out about their music. I’m interested to see how they mature as a group and develop their sound. We wish them well.