Australian, Samantha Sharpe, has released a new single, Ghost. Out now on all platforms.
This is the tale of being ghosted and the lyrics really show that Samantha is working through it.
I particularly liked the lyric “Now you’re just a pale white sheet, holes cut where your eyes should be”
The song starts with a distant, almost creepy sounding piano which really sets the tone for the mood.
Samantha’s voice is gentle and fragile. Very vulnerable and raw. I can see that Adele is clearly an inspiration for this young woman. I like that in places, the vocals are doubled, giving an extra power to the message without the vocals becoming too dominant.
The song is well written and well performed. I like that it develops well with the addition of new instruments and it feels super- powerful once the drums are in place. It would have been nice to have some high strings later in the song to help fill out the high mids frequency range.
This has a catchy hook and a relatable subject matter. Sharpe has clearly felt what she’s singing about and there’s nothing better than an artist who writes from their own experience.
For me, the production fell a little flat, which is a surprise when I read the credits. There’s a dominating frequency in the piano around 400-450Hz which bothered me increasingly as the song progressed. There’s also a real gap in the upper frequencies meaning that the overall feel of the song is lacking some clarity. Again, frustrating as the vocalist is very clearly a classy and well accomplished performer. The breathiness and vulnerability in her voice is a little lost without the top end and I’d suggest a boost of the top 2 21/2 octaves with a notch out around 9kHz to avoid the sibilance dominating.
Samantha Sharpe has written and performed a beautiful, catchy song of lost love, longing and ghosting that really pulls at the heartstrings. I look forward to hearing more from this young Australian.