Birmingham (UK) artist, Dom Malin, has just released his latest single, South America, and we’ve been taking a few listens here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today.
South America is a song which explores the idea of two people who have established a connection only to find that it isn’t possible. From England to South America they are unable to find a balance and this fleeting moment is brief but everlasting. Having gone their separate ways this song is a celebration of friendship and the power of connection.
South America is a song with a very stripped down simple sound – just acoustic guitar and vocals throughout the track. Dom’s breathy and current sounding vocals lead the way with some real warmth in the low notes and a nice and present buzzy feeling in the higher notes.
South America feels like a song that would sit well being played around a campfire late into the night. It has that John Prine charm about it that means that the music and the melody aren’t the focus. The lyrics are the focus of this track and it feels as though Dom Malin is sitting in the room with you, pouring out his heart through his guitar.
From his biography, it is clear that Dom Malin is a determined and hardworking musician. He’s had some local BBC air play and attention. We feel that a track like South America would do well placed in a TV show. It is the kind of simple, acoustic led, singer-songwriter track that a great deal of music supervisors are seeking out at the moment. Think The Detectorists theme tune as an example. We feel that searching out this kind of avenue would be the best way for Dom Malin to increase his fanbase.
From a production perspective, a fairly large boost centred around 80Hz would add some warmth and body to the guitar. A cut in the vocal track around 200Hz would reduce some ‘muddy’ tones as well. A boost in the high mids centred around 4kHz in the vocal track would increase the presence and definition overall. Be careful boosting in the high end as it may result in the ‘hiss’ on the track being more dominant.
Dom Malin’s, South America, is a warm and gentle folk song that speaks to the listener about connections and lost opportunities.