Chicago based artist, The Wandering Endorphin, has just released his latest single, Ya Gotta Get Down To Get Up, and we’ve taking a few listens here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today.
The song starts with a super funky bassline with some great hi-hat work. Added in after this is what we can only describe as “wakka wakka” 70s style disco rhythm guitar. This is superb and very authentic for the genre.
As the instrumental section of the track progressed, it reminded us at times of Red Hot Chilli Peppers cover of Love Rollercoaster. We very much found our heads nodding along to this track.
When the vocals come in, they’re quirky and characterful. The song takes on a whole different feel at this point – almost as if Ian Dury is covering a disco track! We like the use of layered vocals in places to fill out the sound. This works particularly well.
One thing that we particularly loved was the falsetto backing/chorus vocals that reminded us heavily of the Scissor Sisters.
This track has lots of different sections that keep returning to that super-cool riff that starts the song. At one point in the middle, there’s a guitar solo with a very unique tone that cuts through the mix. A repetitive riff that draws the listener in and demands your attention.
This is a track that we would imagine would work well in a dance club. With a groovy feel to it and a definite call to action to Get Down, this funky track is most definitely one which you cannot sit still to.
To our ears the track needs a small amount of EQ balancing. A wide boost centred around 300-350Hz to increase the warmth and fullness of the sound. A wide cut centred around 2-2.5kHz to reduce some harsh tones that give certain aspects of the track a little too much character. Finally a high shelf boost set at around 6kHz to increase the overall brightness and definition. Also, although there are a few stereo sounds in the track, we feel that more stereo would help to bring the song to life a little more. Many of the popular DAWs have a simple plug-in for this kind of thing.
Jim Green, recording under the moniker, The Wandering Endorphin, has produced a fun and truly danceable track here. One which we think will be stuck in our heads for quite some time to come.