Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’re listening to the debut solo single of UK artist, KJ Hand, with his song, Lost Souls. Released 27 September 2022. (Link coming soon)
Lost Souls is a tale of unrequited love. With filtered piano at the start of the song (the higher frequencies being removed), a beautiful Celtic sounding violin fills your ears. The song already feels warm and gentle and has a touch of Irish/Scottish feel to it.
When KJ’s vocals come in, they are warm and smooth. There’s a hint of his accent (which we always love to hear in a vocalist) and at times, the timbre of his voice reminded us of Feargal Sharkey. KJs vocals are clear in the mix and its easy to hear every single lyric crystal clear.
That all important second verse maintains interest and develops by adding in a simple bass line and just a touch of incidental guitar. By now, the song has a truly full orchestral sound. Towards the end, there are some high strings that float above the song, making it feel even more Celtic and orchestral.
There are some beautiful backing vocals that soar above the lead vocal. At times this feels almost like a Disney score, or perhaps something from an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. This is a huge production song.
A couple of times in the song, the bass drops out completely and shortly after it, everything else but the vocals drops out too, just for a moment. This is a great use of tension and release and helps to keep the listener invested in the track.
From a production perspective, a cut around 70Hz would reduce some boominess in the bass when it comes in. The track also feels a little heavy around 250Hz which makes it seem a little muddy to our ears so a cut here would help with the clarity in this area. A boost around 4kHz for a little extra presence and definition and finally a high shelf boost in the top octave for a little more ‘air and ‘zing’! Be careful not to boost too much at 8kHz as this is where the sibilance in the vocal track is sitting.
Lost Souls is a great solo debut track from an artist who has recorded and toured several albums with the band, Yeah Jazz. This is a beautiful and gentle song that has a touch of melancholy and real “film score” /musical theatre feel to it. We look forward to hearing more from KJ Hand.