We must admit, when we saw a song come across our desk that was about the menopause, we had some pre-conceptions to say the least. Perhaps even more so because the song is by a family band and included 3 young kids. Without a shadow of a doubt, there was more than a little trepidation as we hit play.
We are more than willing to say that this song is proof that you shouldn’t judge a song by its subject matter. Biological Clock had all of us grinning from ear to ear from the opening note, right to the end. Even those on our team for whom this is a touchy subject were smiling heartily and nodding.
Lyrically, the song is clever without bowing to the potential temptation of being coarse. “She blows hot and cold like nobody knows”.
As a family band, it’s damn clear that the kids are well up for this song and we stand corrected. The vocal harmonies taken by the kids are superb and you can almost hear the smiles in everyone’s voices.
Biological Clock has a wonderful 70s funk disco feel. That gorgeous “wakka wakka” sounding wah guitar is spot on for the genre and the whole song bowls you over with nostalgic 70s vibes.
Vocally, the lead singer here is strong and powerful. She has some great power and some wonderful head voice moments. Very reminiscent of the characterful vocals of Ann Wilson (Heart). The vocals are clear and easy to hear without being dominating. Amusingly enough, we spent the entire length of the song warming more and more to this fantastic family band (did you see what we did there?!!)
A great horn section adds a touch more authenticity to the 70s disco feel and the track easily maintains your interest with lots of different sections, changes in instrumentation, and of course, those quirky lyrics. A 16 beat tambourine pattern at one point, particularly raised the bar for us.
The Marsh Family is a family group who went viral with pandemic parody videos several times during lockdowns, amassing 100,000 followers on YouTube and many media appearances. Like their other material, “Biological Clock” was written and recorded at home, and mixed remotely, and it has the support of The Menopause Charity. Likened at times to the Partridge family or even Weird Al Yankovic, we’ve a new favourite here at the Send Me Your Ears Studio.
Great mixing and mastering on this track here. We personally would suggest that the tuning of the snare is a little dominant in the mix. To counter this, try notching out at 190Hz but adding a wide boost centred either side of 190Hz. This should balance the dominating snare a little. Perhaps also try boosting around 4-4.5kHz to give a little extra presence to the track.
The Marsh Family have managed to produce an absolute disco corker here. A subject that is frustratingly shrouded in taboo and hushed tones, The Marsh Family shout it loud and proud. We wish them the very best of luck and expect to hear of much future success moving forward.