Cardiff (Wales) based artist, Feralman, has just released a new song, Golden Canary. There is both a radio edit and a longer version and we’ve been taking a listen here at the Send Me Your Ears Studio today.
The song starts with some beautifully recorded guitar and adds in some really sumptuous layered vocals. Beautiful long held notes on the fiddle fill out the sound and the occasional tambourine shake keeps you interested in the song until the full percussion comes in later.
We’re particularly drawn to the subtle distant percussion. It works extremely well in this song and it just didn’t need to be front and centre. This isn’t a rock song after all! This is a calm and relaxing singer-songwriter/folk song with some beautiful nuances. There’s a few just glorious rumbling thunderous low drums moments that feel quite euphoric.
The theme of the song is suggesting to the listener that they must act on their dreams, no matter how big they are. We love this! And the fact that Feralman notes that his music is being considered for a sync deal just goes to show that he is well and truly following his own advice.
Golden Canary, both the radio edit and the longer version, are simply perfect choices for a sync deal for TV or film. We can just imagine this. We like the chanting section in the longer version. This almost feels like something which could work in many different movie genres. It reminds us a little of the Clannad music that was used in the background for a lot of the Robin of Sherwood TV show back in the mid 80s.
Overall, this is a very well balanced song, with the frequencies all being represented well. We feel that there could be space for a little more separation between the instruments. Golden Canary also feels just a little heavy in the low-mid range – perhaps a dip here will help tidy this up. We also suggest a narrow dip around the 110-120Hz range to balance out what feels like an unnecessary overtone in the kick drum.
Golden Canary is a sumptuous soundscape and a track which we have no doubt we’ll be hearing at the movies before too long. A really beautiful combination of singer-songwriter style together with some epic and cinematic instrumentation.