Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been listening to the latest single from one of our favourites, Garland Kelley. Give it all Away is released today, 16th June, 2023, and is yet another instant winner from this talented Nashville-based musician/producer.
Give It All Away addresses materialism and overconsumption and displays plenty of Garland’s trademark quality lyricism, together with the stunning displays of musicianship that we’ve come to expect.
Give It All Away starts with some rocking fuzzy guitar in an intoxicating rhythm with some superb additional fast-tapped guitar sections. This is art/prog rock at its absolute finest – music for the music lover, and not just background noise for fans of three-chord simplicity.
Give It All Away makes impressive use of different sections to break up the track, the choruses are catchy, with additional harmonies and layered vocals, and there are sections with Spanish-style guitar that are absolutely to die for.
Somehow Garland manages to blend effortlessly from heavy prog rock, straight into an almost Cuban/Jamaican reggae-feeling track without losing the interest of the listener for a second. We listened several times to this track and found new moments each time that impressed us.
The drum fills are exciting and superbly executed. The guitar playing is, as always, stunning, and Garland’s vocals are warm, inviting and confident, reminding us at times of Brett Anderson (Suede), or Chris Robinson (Black Crowes).
We loved the Spanish-feeling guitar solo which has plenty of bright reverbs and twang. The shaker is a nice addition during this section, and the prominent major 7 chord on the offbeat during the reggae sections works extremely well.
Ideas from our ears
A boost around 60Hz would add some more punch to the kick drum and a careful cut around 190Hz would reduce a slight peak coming from the snare. A high shelf boost set around 5kHz would increase the presence and brightness in the overall track. Lastly, a light compressor/limiter with maybe 3dB of make up gain would add a touch more thickness and volume. As always, these are just some ideas from our ears.
Final thoughts
We are becoming firm fans of Garland Kelley and we think you should too! His music is intelligent, well-crafted and well-produced. It is always an absolute joy to hear his music and we have no doubt that his sincerity and commitment to his craft will always stand him in good stead. Highly recommended.
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