Miami based band, Swivvel, invited us to take a listen to their latest song, Prose. This is pleasant sounding song with good separation between choruses and verses.
The chorus is super-catchy and we found ourselves humming along by the end of the song.
This has a real 80s feel to it. Prose would sit well amongst the kind of super-positive pop that was kicking around in the late 80s.
Apparently inspired by a winter road trip, funnily enough this song is so positive sounding that it makes me wish for summer!
Prose has an almost anthemic feel to it. It feels both current and slightly retro. I guess you’d call it indie pop rock, perhaps?
Part of what put the 80s in mind for me was the superb attention to detail on the hi-hat. Some really classy work here, together with some lovely fills throughout the song.
I like the dreamy guitar parts that just wash over you, as well as the incidental guitar riffs that serve to fill the gaps between vocals.
The thing that really makes this song for me is the effortless falsetto on the lead vocals. Absolutely beautiful and flawless here. In fact, I prefer his higher notes to the lower ones. There’s something really striking about them. When they first come in, I was instantly impressed and I remained impressed throughout the track.
Prose is a well written, well performed song that I personally feel is a little let down by its production.
The song is very quiet compared with commercial releases in the same style. I would suggest some light compression on the overall track, together with some make up gain to bring Prose more into line with current works. As far as the overall master is concerned I’d also give a big boost around 120-150Hz to balance out that all important low end, a boost around 6-7kHz to give a little more character and a boost at the very top end for some more brightness. I’d suggest a little dip in the 600 -1kHz range to bring out a little “honkiness” in the vocal track. There’s an effect on the vocals that is making the lyrics less clear.
I don’t know if this track is self produced, I couldn’t find out a great deal about Swivvel from their press kit, but this is a song that is catchy, upbeat and really promising that, with just a few slight alterations to the master, has great hit potential. We look forward to hearing Swivvel’s progress.