Nantes (France) based act, Insane Blue, have recently released their latest single, Down With The Miracle, and we here at the Send Me Your Ears studio have been taking a listen today.
Down With The Miracle is a song about war, loss of hope, and the struggle to survive. Insane Blue say; “we couldn’t be indifferent to what is happening around the world.”
Down With The Miracle starts with a quick drum fill and then straight into the song. With a dreamy guitar and lead vocals similar to perhaps Neil Young, this feels instantly like a psychedelic Doors-inspired track. There are also a few nods to the stylings of Pink Floyd – especially Roger Waters’ writing.
Down With The Miracle rises and falls and sets an emotional soundscape. With some big builds and changes in instrumentation, this is a song that you could easily get lost in. It feels, to us, like a song which could be used in the backdrop of a movie or TV show. It has a harrowing and poignant message which we believe would work well as a TV placement and we would urge Insane Blue to seek out an opportunity such as this.
Down With The Miracle also has something of a “study vibes” feel to it. It is dreamy and distant and the instrumentation is something you can truly get lost in.
From a production perspective, we found a peaking frequency at around 196Hz so a careful surgical EQ cut here would reduce that tone and help balance out the low mids a bit more. A small but wider cut around 550-600Hz would reduce some ‘boxy’ tones too. A large boost across the high mids and highs centred around 12kHz but reaching as far as the top three octaves would add a great deal of presence and brightness, giving the track a sense of realness and life. Be careful not to boost the sibilance in the vocal track though. A cut around 5.5-6kHz would help reduce the sibilant peaks in the vocal track. Finally, a light compressor/limiter and maybe 3dB of make up gain will add to the warmth in the track as well as adding some overall volume.
Insane Blue’s, Down With The Miracle is a touching tribute to the devastation of war and the struggle to survive. A song for fans of perhaps the Doors or that era.