Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been taking a few listens to the latest single from The Nightshift Cashier; Burger, Midnight. This track is taken from his forthcoming EP.
The Nightshift Carrier is the work of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/songwriter and self-producer, Bud Wilkins. This is a smooth, easy listening and slightly nostalgic track with some hints of yacht rock.
Burger, Midnight is the strange tale of a runaway musician couple who come across some money, and do what anyone would – open a burger store! Thus proving that you really can write a song about anything if you put your mind to it!
Bud’s low and present voice has occasional moments with extra layered vocals to bolster up the lead. His voice is smooth, calm and clear in the mix.
There’s some gorgeous melodic bass work in places throughout this track that really shine through. We also spotted some great panned rhythm guitars. There’s lots happening throughout the track to keep your interest. The hammond/organ also fills out the sound and is a nice touch to end on.
The highlight of Burger, Midnight for us was the guitar solo. This was a stunning smooth country/jazz/Western swing style solo with some really classy and well considered note choices and a perfectly smooth tone to melt away the cares of the day.
From a production perspective, the mix and the stereo in the track sound great. To our ears there are a few mastering adjustments we would suggest. A boost around 65Hz would fill out the sound of the kick drum. This in addition to a low shelf boost at around 100Hz would give the track a little more body and depth. A boost in the low mids centred around 350Hz and a larger boost centred around 800Hz would make the track feel a bit fuller overall. A final high shelf boost in the top octave would add to the brightness and clarity in the track. The track is a little quiet so using a light compressor / limiter to add about 3dB of extra gain would be a great way to finish it off.
The Nightshift Cashier was a new name to us today, but for lovers of nostalgic easy listening rock/ yacht rock, this is most definitely one to add to your playlist. We’re looking forward to hearing the rest of the EP.