Lupe Dragon is an alternative singer/songwriter from Northern New Jersey. We’ve been taking a listen to her latest single, Your Charming Head, here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today. If you’re a fan of early 2000’s female rock/pop singers then this may just be for you.
When the song first came in, it felt almost like it was going to be a Marillion/ Fish style song. There was something about the instrumentation and production that felt very Fish-like. Once the vocals come in though, it’s very clear that Lupe Dragon is a big Avril Lavigne fan. The similarities are quite startling.
Lupe Dragon and Avril Lavigne both are emo/ punky style vocalists who have a very present vocal which cuts through the instrumentation well. Demonstrating ease when hitting lower notes, but not often going for the higher belt notes that you often find in female rock vocals. The belt notes are thin and nasally and work perfectly for this style of skater type rock. Lyrically, we were reminded of Taylor Swift. There’s some witticisms in the style of break up lyrics here that would make Taylor smile.
“This is a song about the time someone said they fell out of love with me… at that point I felt that everything was a lie and I started questioning what was real or not about the whole relationship. This song represents that journey through the sadness, fear, and anger of it all,” said Dragon.
We like the stereo drum track in this, there’s some superb fills that help break up the different sections of the track and the heavy electric guitars sit well in this style of music – again – we can’t help but draw Avril Lavigne comparisons. The slow fade out works well. This feels like a song that could be picked up my US college radio, given the right publicity campaign.
From a production perspective, a cut around 75Hz would balance out some peaking tones in the kick drum. There is also a tom peaking around 140Hz so an additional cut here would reduce its dominance. A small but wide boost around 2.5kHz would add a little extra ‘edge’ to the track.
For anyone who is a fan of LGBTQ songs, female empowerment songs, and skater rock, this is one for your playlist. Your Charming Head is an upbeat dig by a spurned lover to the one who said they’d love them forever. Great heartwrenching stuff!