Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been listening to the latest single from Joyce Marten. Perfect was released on June 2nd, 2023 is Joyce’s third single, having only began making music during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of Perfect, Joyce says that the song reflects her process of taking the steps to put her music out in the world. The song is about perfectionist, self-doubt and procrastination, whilst trying to chase your dreams. It is an inner conversation about decision-making and realising that nothing will happen unless you take the first step.
We applaud Martens for taking this step. Any creative person will agree that the first step is the hardest one, and putting her music out there for the world is a brave step.
“We might wait forever
Or we might as well jump on right away
‘Cause we won’t ever reach those dreams
By staring at them day by day.”
The song is encouraging both herself and her listener to follow their dreams and just see what happens. It is endearing that you can hear Joyce’s accent in the song, and we always feel this shows true authenticity to the craft.
Perfect starts with some gentle picked guitar which is joined by a kick drum and shaker. Her vocals are warm and gentle, and she has some lovely head voice moments, slightly reminiscent of Feist’s gentler moments. The first verse builds with loops and added bass
Perfect builds with some lovely electric guitar and then drops back to the same format as the first verse for the second. From a songwriting perspective, we’d have liked to have heard a little more development in the second verse to help maintain interest for the listener.
A full band sound comes in at around 1m30s and the drums really help build the song and give it some excitement. We like the layered vocals in the choruses, and the subtle harmonies work well here.
Perfect builds to a crescendo with busier instrumentation as the vocals sing over the top for a final chorus and a repeated lyric, “Day by day.”
Ideas from our ears
A boost around 120Hz would add some warmth and punch to the low end and a cut around 200-250 would reduce some muddy tones. Another cut around 800-900Hz would control the occasional ‘honky’ and ‘nasal’ tones too. A wider boost centred around 4-5kHz would increase the presence and definition. Overall, the song is fairly quiet in comparison to other similar releases so a light compressor/limiter and maybe 3-4dB of make-up gain would add volume as well as some extra thickness as a whole. As always, these are just some ideas from our ears.
Final thoughts
We’re always happy to see new songwriters emerge onto the scene and are thrilled to see Joyce Martens taking her first steps. We look forward to seeing what happens next for this Netherlands singer-songwriter.
Send Me Your Ears offers mastering and mentoring services. Please visit https://sendmeyourears.com/advance-your-career/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3MgMwyKQmP8TbRmEhNdxFo?si=gdRMVp6bTjCdKzzrY283ZA
https://instagram.com/joycemartensmusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=