Huntingdon based, but Queens born (US) artist, Josie Bello, has just released her latest single, They Lie, and for lovers of gypsy jazz with a touch of European and Latin influence, this song should be on your radar. We here at the Send Me Your Ears studio have been taking a few listens today.
They Lie is a sharp political and societal commentary on the current world-wide state of lying and deception by public figures. It focuses on greed and lust for power, manipulation and lies within the media and permeating throughout the political agenda.
They Lie has a beautifully latin feel to it. With some gorgeous Spanish guitar moments and congas filling the sound, this is a song to sway your hips to.
Josie’s vocals are clear and confident and very distinctive. They have a kind of “back of the throat”, distinctly New York accent to them. We love it when we can pick out an accent in a song and in this case, it makes the track feel truly like the artist’s authentic self.
There’s some harmony “oohs” and “aahs” in places that help fill out the sound, and Josie’s masterful accordian playing at times makes you feel like you’re sitting sipping coffee in a small cafe somewhere in France!
From a production perspective, a small boost around 70Hz would add to the fullness of the track and another around 140Hz would bring the bass in a little more. A fairly wide boost centred around 3kHz would give the track a bit more definition and a high shelf boost in the top octave would bring in a little extra brightness and ‘zing’. We found that there is not a great deal of stereo information in the track. Most DAWs have a simple stereo spread plug-in which may help to bring the track to life a little more. Finally, the track is a little quiet so a light compressor / limiter and around 5dB of make up gain would bring it more in line with other similar commercial releases.
A truly unique and thoroughly enjoyable track, highlighted by Josie’s distinctive and confident vocals. Her nuances and inflections bring an extra dimension to a gypsy jazz song that will have you up and slow dancing in no time!