Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been listening to the latest single from Tokyo-based artist, Ginger May. Mockster was released on August 11th, 2023.
Mockster is an interesting crossover of 80s electronic pop and industrial rock. Throw in some very modern production techniques and you’re left with the sound of Ginger May. Ambitious and creative, Ginger May consists of two songwriters: Tanya Schneider and Satoshi Higashida.
We always like to hear regional accents in music, and that is clear in Ginger May’s song here. The melody line plays it safe for the most part, sticking to a repeated line for much of the verse, there are moments where the vocalist displays some powerful belt techniques in the higher notes and we’d love to hear more of this on future recordings.
We enjoyed the stops and changes in rhythms that were evident throughout the track. The use of half-time sections was particularly appealing, and we especially enjoyed the punched vocal and drum section which led into a half-time section towards the end of the track.
Using heavy synths and repeated riffs, this is a track that gets under your skin: an earworm to take away with you and one which returns to the chorus frequently to cement the song in your memory.
The instrumental sections show some great diversity and skillful musicianship, and the stinger ending is a nice touch – perfect for this style of music. Perhaps at 5 minutes in length, a little too long for commercial radio airplay, but nonetheless, we strongly recommend the band contact college and local radio for consideration.
Ideas from our ears
A cut centered around 125Hz would reduce some dominant and boomy bass tones, making the low end a little clearer. A cut around 600-700Hz would reduce some peaks coming from the vocal track too. A couple of cuts in the 3.5-5kHz area would reduce some harsh tones overall. These cuts would reduce the overall volume as well, leaving the track with a little more space to breathe under the limiter. As always, these are just some ideas from our ears.
Final thoughts
Mockster was our first introduction to the music of Ginger May. Challenging and genre-crossing, this is a track that will win them plenty of new fans.
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