Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been listening to Podge Lane’s latest single, Change In The Weather, released today, 20 January 2023.
Podge Lane hails from Cork, Ireland and Change In The Weather is from his forthcoming album, Common Country Misconceptions, set for release in March this year.
Speaking of the inspiration for the song, Lane says; “This song is about looking for signs in silly things, which I’ve looked for a lot! Thinking back on the number of times I’ve thought, “If it’s raining out something bad is going to happen,” or if the sun was shining there was a bit of hope. We’re always fearing the worst and this is a song to say, “Let’s snap out of it.” It’s my life, not the weather’s.”
Change In The Weather starts with a big sigh from Lane, perhaps indicating he’s snapping out of the weather influencing his mood. Moving into some lovely and gentle fingerpicked acoustic guitar, the song then adds some distant droning organ and incidental piano.
Lane’s vocal in the track is intimate, clear and present. It gives the song a storytelling feel, along the same vein as perhaps Dylan or Prine. There’s a touch of gravel in his voice and it is a well-enunciated vocal which resonates firmly at the front of the face. There is an endearing fragility in the vibrato notes.
The song develops gently with the addition of a kick drum and a very unique-sounding shaker, almost imitating rain sounds.
To us, this feels like a song which would be perfect to pitch for a sync licence for use in the background of a TV show. Some of the huge hitters (BBC and AMC) are particularly seeking out gentle acoustic singer-songwriter tracks for music licensing at the moment and this gentle track feels to us like it ticks all the right boxes.
Ideas from our ears
A low shelf boost set around 120Hz with an additional boost around 60Hz would thicken up the low end and add some extra thump to the kick drum. A cut around 600Hz in the vocal track would reduce some slightly ‘honky’ tones and another around 7-8kHz for sibilance. A small boost in the high mids around 3kHz would increase the definition in the track too. Finally, a light compressor/limiter and around 5-6dB of make-up gain for extra warmth and overall volume. As always, these are just some ideas from our ears.
Final thoughts
Podge Lane’s, Change In The Weather, is a gentle singer-songwriter track guaranteed to melt away your cares and put you in the right frame of mind for the day. A simple but effective contemplation of overthinking with honest lyrics and intimate delivery.