THE TRUSTED – ARKANSAS

Southend (UK) based band, The Trusted, have just released their latest single, Arkansas, and we’ve been taking a few listens here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today.

We were intrigued that a band from Southend could write a song entitled “Arkansas”. Arkansas tells a very personal story of a desire to escape and to find love again in a faraway beautiful place. Lead singer, Tom Cunningham, has been writing a song a day since lock down first started. This is an amazing commitment to his craft and one which is clearly starting to pay off, having had a good amount of radio air play so far. This band who met in school are clearly driven and hardworking and kudos to them for getting their music out there.

Arkansas is one of those tracks that we would describe as a “slow burn” starting very gently with a filtered sound and lots of electronic pop feeling instrumentation, the song ambles along comfortably with some great warm lead vocals which are very current sounding and make some good, but not excessive, use of creak techniques.

At around 2 minutes 30, the song really starts to come to life with some interesting drum patterns. Be patient!! This song just gets better and better. There is a simply superb instrumental section towards the end that feels positively anthemic. The second half of this track is so dynamic and exciting. Not that we didn’t love the first half, it just feels a great deal more gentle. This could be a track that would work well in a TV show perhaps. We’d urge The Trusted to follow this avenue to pick up new fans from totally new areas.

From a production perspective, a boost in the range of 100-150Hz would add to the warmth and punch of the track. This is a great sounding track production-wise from a band that are clearly extremely motivated.

Arkansas is a great example of what can be achieved if you set your mind to writing a song a day. A lesson in really pushing boundaries and honing your craft, this track will brighten anyone’s day. An artist to watch for sure.