Rob Lea – Freak

Last time we reviewed British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Rob Lea, we described his music as goosebump-inducing. So when we saw his name reach the top of the reviews pile here at the Send Me Your Ears studio we were super-excited to hear his latest single, Freak. Reading the information about the inspiration behind the single only made us more excited; “This song is all about celebrating what makes you slightly different from the norm. It’s about sticking a middle finger up at anyone who says you are less than perfect”.

Freak is, quite frankly, a work of art. It’s catchy, it’s powerful and it had all our heads nodding from the very first second.

Freak starts with a fade in with filtered effects. Throughout the song, Lea makes great use of sound effects and filters. The thumpy and powerful kick drum pounding out a four on the floor beat serve to force the listener to pay attention. This is just so catchy. We have ourselves a hit here, and Lea is clearly showing some fantastic versatility in both his songwriting and his musicianship.

The layered vocals work well in this track. They almost serve to give the impression that he’s not on his own with his point of view. It sounds like a call to action that a whole group of Rob Lea’s have assembled to help get the point across even more strongly.

The drum fills in this are tight and effortless. There’s great separation in the mix and every single instrument is given plenty of space to shine. We like the panned “what you’re doing” towards the end of the track and lyrically, we particularly liked the line “I might be crazy but at least I’m not you”. Boy do we all feel that way sometimes!

Freak is a song which easily maintained our interest for several listens. Rob Lea has managed to produce a superior quality track here which has hit potential written all over it.

With perhaps a slight dip around 1kHz to reduce some slightly honky tones and a slight boost centred around 9kHz for extra brightness and clarity this is an absolute killer of a track. The commercial appeal just flies out of the speakers.

Once again… Rob Lea has stolen our hearts and our ears and produced an incredible funk rock track that would easily sit on a playlist with the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Jet or Extreme. We urge you to add this track to your playlist immediately!