TJ DOYLE – LULLABY (MEANT TO BE TOGETHER)

Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been listening to the latest single from California-based artist, TJ Doyle. Meant To Be Together was released on January 31, 2023.

Meant To Be Together is performed by TJ Doyle; Solo Artist. David Raven; Drums, Lance Morrison; Bass, TJ Doyle; Guitars, Tim Pierce; Electric Lead, Phil Parlapiano; Keys, and mixed by David Z Rivkin.

The song begins with a quick drum fill and swiftly moves into a beautiful instrumental section with panned guitars and some skilful solo playing. The drums are very bright and upfront in the mix. They are steady, with the occasional fill.

When the vocals come in, TJ’s voice is thin and reedy and very reminiscent of Neil Young. He sings with an intimacy and a storytelling feel that fans of Crosby, Stills and Nash will love.

Lyrically, this is an interesting track, and is an insight into Doyle’s thinking, his songs being predominately inspired by nature: “Like all of nature we are free.”

There are some interesting and heavy tremolo moments on the guitar, and the track makes good use of gentle strings and keys in the background to fill out the sound.

For us, it was the solo that won this song. There are some Dire Straits touches in the tones and choices of notes, and the solo really is rather expertly played and makes full use of the neck.

Ideas from our ears

A hi-pass at 40Hz and a cut around 200Hz would remove some low-end rumble and also reduce a slight peak coming from the snare. A few cuts in the vocal track in the 250Hz-800Hz range would help too. Some extra compression in the vocals would help bring them forward in the mix a little too. Finally, a light compressor/limiter on the main track with maybe 5dB of make-up gain would add some extra warmth and thickness as well as raising the overall volume. As always, these are just some ideas from our ears.

Final thoughts

Fans of Neil Young will love this latest track from TJ Doyle. A warm and personal track with some superb guitar playing.

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