Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been listening to Josh Long’s latest single, Tidal Wave, released today, 20 January 2023.
Tidal Wave is a song about unreciprocated connections and the confusion that comes with them. Coming straight in with vocals, Tidal Wave grabs your attention immediately with some great slapback delay.
Tidal Wave makes great use of panning and stereo with stereo guitars throughout and some superb little percussion moments panned to one side. There is very good separation between the kick and bass guitar here – both are given plenty of space.
The lead vocal is clear in the mix and is joined by several layered vocals in the choruses. We particularly liked the way the melody of the vocals worked well with the lyrics, fitting the words in as they would be spoken, especially in the faster sections. This worked very well.
Tidal Wave has a kind of nostalgic surf feel to it, with a definite 80s pop/funk/ disco influence. The rise and fall within the track keeps it exciting for the listener throughout, with the bass coming and going to accentuate different sections.
We love the breakdown section with panned electric driven guitar in the style and tone of Lenny Kravitz, which then develops into another solo with slightly different tones and a busier melody.
Tidal Wave has a stinger ending which is followed by some sounds of the waves. It has the perfect relaxing surf-rock vibe.
Ideas from our ears
A boost around 60Hz and another around 160Hz would thicken up the low end a bit more. A careful cut at 200Hz would reduce a resonating tone coming from the snare drum sound. A small boost around 300Hz would fill out the low mids too. To our ears, there is a peaking frequency around 4kHz in the kick drum track, so a careful cut here would balance out the high mids. A single-band compressor on the top 2 octaves would add some extra brightness and presence without increasing the sibilant sounds in the vocal track. Finally, a light compressor/limiter with maybe 7dB of make-up gain would add extra warmth as well as raising the volume to match similar releases. As always, these are just some ideas from our ears.
Final thoughts
Josh Long’s latest single, Tidal Wave is a chilled-out funk/pop/disco gem for fans of California-influenced music. Definitely worth a few listens!