Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been listening to the latest single from London (UK) artist, Frank Joshua. Bluebell Wood was released on February 24, 2023.
Bluebell Wood digs into the unease of new love in a world where ‘catching feelings’ is a bad thing. The lyrics delve into the gap between first blush and commitment in a new romance. It is about the fears and hopes that collide within us as we tentatively explore someone else’s feelings and compare them to our own.
Bluebell Wood starts with some woodland-like sound effects. A piano and Joshua’s vocals join the mix almost immediately. There are some gorgeous effects on the vocals, which sound warm and very pleasant to listen to. A distant heartbeat-like kick drum joins the mix, followed by a 16-beat shaker. The song develops well and easily maintained our interest.
Joshua’s vocals are bright and upfront in the mix. The lyrics are easy to make out during the verses, and as well as the tape delay type effect, there are some modern production effects which led us to draw slight comparisons to Daft Punk.
Bluebell Wood is a positive-sounding track, and the general feel is of bright dream pop/ perhaps commercial pop/folk. There are comparisons to be drawn here to the likes of Pet Shop Boys and similar late 80s music.
The rise and fall within this track create a dynamic soundscape, with plenty of different sections to keep the listener engaged. We loved the Spanish guitar section with some cool stereo effects.
Ideas from our ears
A careful EQ cut around 470Hz would control a slight resonance there and may help make the tuned vocals sound a little more natural. We felt that the vocals are getting a little lost during the fuller parts of the track so a little extra/harder compression will help raise the volume of the quieter parts and help the vocal line cut through a little more. As always, these are just some ideas from our ears.
Final thoughts
Frank Joshua’s, Bluebell Wood, is a track which draws influence from modern and 80s styles of music and couldn’t possibly be pinned down to any single genre. An exciting artist who we’re looking forward to hearing more from.