We previously reviewed Vancouver (Canada) artist Geoff Gibbons with his warm, Notting Hillbillies-style track, Waitin’ On A Train, so we were thoroughly excited to see his name reach the top of our reviews pile today with his latest single, Execution Man.
In the words of Gibbons; “We face so many obstacles in our lives –physical, emotional, personal, and psychic — we form so much of our identities based on falsehoods.. the warrior in us must face and destroy those falsehoods.” ‘Execution Man’ relates that the death of the false self is necessary in order to discover the true self.”
Execution Man is a beautiful and warm-sounding track with every instrument used to perfection. From the extremely subtle and distant drums (that we couldn’t believe were programmed – according to Gibbons) to the distant Hammond, this is a song that just washes over you.
Everything about this track would utterly delight a Chris Rea fan. With the simple chord progression and smooth bluesy/gospel background vocals and Hammond/Wurlitzer humming away in the background, this is a magnificent piece.
There’s lots of great incidental instrumentation between the vocal lines with some great Chris Isaak-style guitar in the lower guitar riffs and some distinctly Mark Knopfler-style playing in the solo, this track screams quality. All the while, Gibbons’ smooth and effortless vocals lead the way, this is a song which we hit repeat on immediately.
The calm and gentle feel that this track exudes is one which we think would make a great TV show placement and we’d urge Gibbons to seek out opportunities here. This is also a track that we have no doubt will do well on Canadian College radio, as well as some of the more bluesy-inclined internet stations.
The mix on this track is great and captures your attention from the start. To our ears, a small cut around 60Hz would reduce a slightly dominant and boomy feel in the bass. Also, there is a peak in the vocal track around 200Hz so a cut here would help the lower notes fit a bit better. A small high shelf boost in the top 3 octaves would add to the brightness. As always, these are just some ideas, the song doesn’t need anything. We loved this artist’s last song and we loved this one just the same.
If you wish Chris Rea and Mark Knopfler had teamed up to produce a few tracks together then Geoff Gibbons is an artist who will absolutely captivate you.