New York based Paul Maged, has just released his latest single, Everything’s Gonna Be Alright, and we’re here to let you know that if you’re on the look out for a song with a positive theme and a bit of an 80s rock feel, then this might just be your cup of tea.
The song starts with a great strummed guitar section that has a great chorus style effect on it and put us in mind of George Michael’s “Faith”.
Vocally sounding very confident, with lots of non-lyric indications that Maged is happy behind the mic. A very brief moment of high belted section reminded us of the great Glenn Hughes, and the breakdown section with just piano and head voice vocal showed a great versatility in Maged’s range.
There’s a lot happening at any given moment in the song with the rhythm guitars taking the lead on several occasions. We particularly liked the backing vocals echoes of “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” – they bring a soul like quality to the track.
Lyrically, this is a positive anthem – a call to action for the listener to seize the day and be grateful. Just what we all need to hear in these strange times. The chorus is catchy and singalong and with a great stinger ending and a good length, this feels like a song which has some potential for air play. Maged mentions in his press that his songwriting has drawn him some attention in the past, and this track is no exception. This is a positive and heartfelt number.
In terms of mixing, it sounds like there are a lot of instruments fighting for the same frequency range, especially in the low mids. This has resulted in a mix that is a little unclear in our opinion. Some surgical EQing in the individual tracks could really bring this mix to life. To start with, a hi-pass filter set around 35Hz would remove some unnecessary rumble in the sub bass area. Two additional cuts at around 50-55Hz and 100-110Hz would help to balance out some peaking tones particularly in the kick drum. A cut around 200Hz in the vocal track (and perhaps in the main mix too) might help to reduce some ‘muddy’ tones. This really is a stunning, positive, well written track that just a few touches above could take it from great to excellent.
Everything’s Gonna Be Alright is an upbeat, 80s feeling pop/rock track that you could listen to at the end of a tough day at work and have your cares melt away. Great stuff!