Near Death Experience (NDX) have been super busy during lockdown and have just released their latest single, Found.
A captivating song which starts with a perfect blend of great stereo acoustic and electric. Lovely ride cymbal.
This is a catchy song with a memorable and repeated chorus line. The lead vocals are confident and charismatic and put me in mind of Jim Morrison in places, Paul Weller in others, although they hold true on their own and certainly aren’t copycat in any way.
The whole song feels very Jam-like in the choruses and very Doors-like in the verses. This isn’t just the vocals that led me to feel this way. Its very much the instrumentation and style of each section.
The almost psychedelic feel to the verses is balanced out by a more predictable chorus that I imagine the audience get involved in when this is played live.
I can imagine Near Death Experience as a great live band. All instruments are played extremely well – I am particularly enamoured with the drums, but every instrumentalist is clearly well versed and knowledgable in their chosen field.
On analysing the song, I can see and hear that there’s nothing in the middle frequencies except the vocals. Whilst this means that the vocals are clear and present, it does mean that the song lacks a little energy between lines. I’d suggest bringing in some instruments/ adjusting frequencies to balance this out a little.
My only other production thought would be to adjust the way the drums are recorded. The kick fits nicely but there’s a harshness in the snare and I can almost hear the note that the snare is tuned to. Adding in an undersnare mic to the mix, or adjusting the frequencies in the snare will help here. For me, this was the only slight let down of the song.
This is a great 4m20s song which doesn’t let up and maintains interest throughout with some great rise and fall.
This is a song with a great fusion of genres and influences which feels a little like a well conceived throw back to the lates 70s/ early 80s when the charts were filled with music played by actual musicians! Looking forward to hearing more from this exciting UK artist.
We give this song four ears out of five
