Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been listening to Satellite Train’s single, Lies. We recently reviewed their single, Broken Heart, and were thoroughly impressed with the writing, production and musicianship, so we were excited to see them hit the top of our reviews pile again.
Once again, Satellite Train have created a track which grabs your attention immediately and holds it very easily for the duration of the track. We absolutely had to hit replay the moment it was finished!
Lies comes in immediately with clear vocals, reminiscent of Davy Jones (The Monkees). The song has a nostalgic feel to it and the unpredictable chord progressions and overall feel of the track reminded us of The Beatles style of writing.
This is a song which will have you slowly nodding your head and smiling. It has a feel-good and positive vibe which takes you on a musical journey that fans of power pop (The Beatles, Beach Boys, etc) will adore.
The musicianship on display in this track is superb. Every member of the band is given plenty of opportunity to shine. Kudos to the funky little bass riff we spotted between a couple of sections. There is some lovely droning organ filling out the sound, and as the song progresses, there are some well-placed piano riffs added to the mix.
The song makes great use of layered vocals to fill out the sound and bolster the lead vocal. The production is superb: the frequencies are balanced and every instrument is clear in its own space.
We were particularly impressed with the percussion in this track. The shakers keep the beat for the majority of the song and whilst the shaker on the left lends itself to a 4/4 swing rhythm, the shaker on the right makes the song feel 6/8. It’s an extremely clever trick here, and because the production is so well done, you don’t notice that it is the bass that carries the low end. A full drum kit joins the mix at around 2 minutes in, but the song is so well-balanced that it doesn’t feel as though it’s crashed in, it’s just suddenly there, creating a bit of extra percussion.
The song fades out slowly, leaving the listener wanting more. We hit replay straight away and enjoyed the song just as much, if not more, the second time around.
We are thoroughly impressed with every aspect of Satellite Train’s music. A band of seasoned professionals who are creating something really quite spectacular. Ones to watch!