Mark Shepherd is an English singer-songwriter whose style lends itself to being described perhaps as Americana or Folk Rock. We here at the Send Me Your Ears studio have been taking a listen to his latest single, World On Fire, today.
World On Fire is a call-to-action song. Literally asking the listener to set the world on fire, in a world of total chaos, climate emergencies and underhanded politics, Shepherd is asking the listener to feel just a touch of hope for the future.
Starting on acoustic guitar strums with just a hint of Mumford and Sons, the song develops quickly into a rousing folk-rock anthem that demands attention.
We always love when we can hear a vocalist’s accent in a track, and Shepherd’s dulcet tones convey an Englishness that is both charming and passionate. Reminding us in places of Paul Weller, Shepherd’s voice is clear in the mix and you feel bowled over by his positivity.
In the verses, he talks about the state of the world;
“We would rather hear that the future will be as bright as it can be
But the best years may be behind us. That’s what everybody’s telling me”
The verses demand that we can still fix this planet of ours, and you can’t help but get swept along with the message of World On Fire. “We set the world on fire” is a truly compelling argument in a world of everything hitting the fan.
The harmonies and full chorus of extra vocals that come in to help convey the message make the listener feel that if you don’t get involved, then you’ll be on your own! Everyone is joining in and setting the world on fire. This is a very powerful and catchy song with a great message.
There are lots of different sections within this relatively short song, each serving to help maintain the listener’s interest. We took several listens and didn’t lose interest at any time. There is an infectious positivity to this track and we loved it.
From a production perspective, we noticed that the acoustic guitar is resonating on the G so a careful surgical EQ cut at 196Hz would reduce the resulting peak effectively. The vocal is cutting through very nicely. A couple of small cuts around 500Hz and 1kHz would help balance it out a bit. A boost of around 4kHz would increase the definition in the track and add some extra brightness. To our ears, the drum track is a little bit brittle in the very high frequencies so a high shelf cut around 12kHz would help make the track sound a tiny bit darker.
A wonderful call-to-action song from an artist with a distinctive sound and a characterful voice. We’re looking forward to hearing more from this quality Americana/ acoustic artist.