Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been listening to the latest single from the UK duo, The Peace Lilies. Cherry Blossom Skies was released on March 10th, 2023 and is a positive song looking towards the spring and all of the promises surrounding that time of year.
The Peace Lilies are Jacqui Dee & Gary Sanford. Jacqui began writing the lyrics for this song whilst feeling new-found energy walking in the woods. Jacqui also wrote the music. She describes, “The feeling of the warm sun in the air and sighting the first blossoms of spring. It’s interesting observing the changes in the body language of passers-by, nature and wildlife at this time of year. It is a time for new beginnings.” Gary plays all of the instruments on the track.
Cherry Blossom Skies begins with a strummed acoustic guitar and what sounds like, perhaps, a banjo taking the lead.
When Jacqui’s vocals join the mix, they are warm and inviting. They are perfect vocals for singing folk music and reminded us slightly of Kirsty McColl. When she harmonises with herself, the song really comes to life and set us in mind of First Aid Kit or The Pierces.
The song develops well in that all-important second verse, by adding in some extra picked guitar and a shaker and tambourine. The layered vocals here are a positive delight.
Kick drum and bass join the mix as we move gently through the song and by this point, we placed the song firmly in the “folk music” category in our heads.
The Peace Lilies kick it up at this point with a stunning electric guitar solo, with doubled melody lines on the guitars, and a real blues rock 70s feel. This takes the song to a whole new level, and shows that The Peace Lillies can’t be pigeonholed or easily defined.
We feel this is a song that will be well-received by local and folk radio stations. BBC Introducing, BBC Hertfordshire and internet folk shows worldwide will relish this beautiful and relaxing track.
Ideas from our ears
A boost around 125Hz would add some extra warmth and fullness to the low end. The vocal track could use a couple of EQ cuts in the 220-350Hz range to reduce some dominant and occasionally ‘muddy’ tones. The overall top end could use some extra brightness and presence with a wide boost centred around 8kHz. The shaker is a little piercing in the 9-15kHz range, so a cut in that area on the shaker track could help it fit a little better. As always, these are just some ideas from our ears.
Final thoughts
The Peace Lilies bring a positive and relaxing celebration of Spring and new beginnings in their latest track, Cherry Blossom Skies. Highly recommended.
https://www.facebook.com/thepeaceliliesmusic
https://twitter.com/thepeacelilies1
https://open.spotify.com/artist/51cHI8Mq9Ej41yf6LLAXpZ?si=6KqlKwgnRhqHr4-ZLLACSA
https://www.youtube.com/@thepeacelilies3485/featured
https://www.instagram.com/thepeacelilies/
https://thepeacelilies.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/thepeacelilies